9 Aug 2021
Ben Gilbert-Pocock has been elected as the new president of the Cornwall Veterinary Association.
Joshua Silverwood
Job Title
From left: Renay Rickard, Ben Gilbert-Pocock and Colin Whiting.
The Cornwall Veterinary Association (CVA) has a new president following the election of its newest council members for 2021.
Former president Colin Whiting stepped down as Ben Gilbert-Pocock took up position as the association’s new president, supported by junior vice-president and RVN Renay Rickard.
The handover took place at the association’s annual meeting, on the sands of the beach at Gwithian near St Ives.
In 2022 Dr Gilbert-Pocock will similarly be stepping down from his position, making way for Mrs Rickard to take over as president, making her the first nurse to hold the post.
Dr Gilbert-Pocock said: “We continue to build on the forward-thinking changes that were made last year to our constitution by welcoming nurses as full members, and having a vet student as well as both vets and vet nurses on council.
“It will be a historic day when Renay becomes the first nurse to be our president at our annual meeting in March 2022, which will coincide with our now renowned CPD day.
“We have got some really exciting announcements about our annual ball in October, and we can’t wait to celebrate with the wider vet family.”
Dr Gilbert-Pocock added: “Understandably a lot of our events last year didn’t take place, but in many ways the adversity brought us closer as a veterinary community in Cornwall.
“These unprecedented pressures have led to more support between different practices. There were plenty of telephone calls, messages and emails between teams helping each other out. Cornwall has always had a strong sense of community and it has just become even more special.”
