The national competitions, organised by the ABPS, will take place at Autumn Stampex from 30th September to 3rd October at the Business Design Centre, Islington. The competitions will feature all the usual exhibition FIP/FEPA classes as well as the Cinderella and Ephemera classes. Exhibitors can submit from one to five frames (of 16 sheets each) or eight frames if they have achieved a Large Vermeil at a previous national exhibition. Full details of the rules and the process for sending in your entries can be found in the Exhibiting section of the ABPS website.
Also taking place at Autumn Stampex will be the Inter Federation Competition. A regional Federation can enter a team of three people, each providing a display of one or two frames (16 sheets per frame), one of each must be a thematic, open philately or picture post cards entry. Only one exhibitor per team shall have achieved a higher award than Large Vermeil at any national or international exhibition. At least one exhibitor per team must not have entered a national exhibition before, and each such exhibitor will gain an extra five points. The Inter Federation Competition Trophy will be awarded to the Federation achieving the highest aggregate of the marks scored in the three classes. Again, full details can be found on the ABPS website. Simon Richards, Chairman of the ABPS Exhibitions Committee, commented “The InterFed rules are designed to get the novice to exhibiting going and are weighted to achieve that. We hope this new initiative will encourage new people to take the step of showing their collections in national events.”