The BGRB Welfare Committee held its third meeting of the year on Wednesday 16th July and discussion of welfare issues raised by the imminent closure of Walthamstow Stadium was high on the agenda.Committee Chairman John Haynes reported:"As usual it was a busy meeting and a wide range of issues were discussed, from standards of track kennels nationwide to the latest training seminars and research projects."I am pleased to confirm that the Committee also agreed a set of proposals to support trainers and greyhounds affected by the imminent closure of Walthamstow. We will be making available funds from the Welfare Budget and the next step will be for Peter Laurie (Welfare Officer) and I to meet again with representatives of the Walthamstow Directors, trainers and the Owners and Welfare Association to finalise arrangements in the next couple of weeks. In addition, we will be keeping one eye on developments at Harlow as a number of the Stow trainers begin to grade their greyhounds on there."The Committee also welcomed Norah McEllistrim, newly-elected Chair of the Greyhound Trainers Association (GTA), to her first meeting. She takes over from Brian Clemenson who has represented the GTA on the committee since mid-2006.Haynes added:"Everyone knows that Norah is passionate about greyhound welfare and I am sure she will make a valuable contribution to the committee's work. It is also important that Brian’s contribution is properly acknowledged and it is a demonstration of his commitment to welfare and the GTA that he gave up his time and took a day out of the kennels to attend meetings in London on a regular basis."The Welfare Committee is due to meet next in October.