Welcome

Welcome to The National Organisation of Beaters and Pickers Up (NOBS). We very much hope that you will find both the Organisation and the Website to be of help and interest to you. We are the sole organisation specifically designed for beaters, pickers up and loaders. Please do take a couple of minutes to register your interest, enjoy this fantastic website and spread the word, so that we can promote our worth and increase the number of people in the Countryside.

We help get people involved with beating and picking up regardless of whether they have participated before or are complete novices. We act as an active link between gamekeepers or shoot captains with beaters and pickers up.

The National Organisation of Beaters and Pickers Up came about because our Chief Executive and founder Mark Elliott noticed a distinct lack of information for beaters and pickers up about our fantastic pastime and shoots in their area.

There was a distinct lack of youngsters being encouraged to take up Beating or Picking up. Thinking about it he also realised that there is nowhere specifically for a gamekeeper/Shoot owner who is short of beaters to find them at short notice, especially if he has exhausted all his contacts. This gave him a base to build the organisation on and plan for the future.

We believe there is no end to the potential of the organisation we aim to run Beating Courses and educational fairs for youngsters. There are tens of thousands of beaters and pickers up across the United Kingdom and we hope that we can provide them with a proactive and supportive voice, not only making a contribution to shooting but to the whole countryside.

Members of NOBs who represented the Organisation at the Lords v Commons Clay shoot on 19th October 2007: L to R – Stuart Goodwin, Lee Hurst, Mark Elliott, Neil Dale and Grant Bristam

One aspect that we are particularly proud of is the interactivity we have with our members through newsletters and our excellent discussion forum. All of the NOBs team is involved in the forum ready to offer advice on everything from veterinary issues to what's best to fill your hipflask with!

It's an excellent place to visit for advice, recipes or even a chat with members across the United Kingdom to discuss whatever you want to get off your chest. The forum can be visited by clicking on the forum button under the logo at the top of the page.

NOBs works by linking up gamekeepers or shoot captains with beaters, pickers up or loaders in their area. Firstly people need to register (Membership fee of £5 per annum starting 1 Feb 06 - £10 for shoots/game keepers) by clicking on the register button and selecting the correct form for them depending on who they are (you can register in more than one category - Only one payment required)

Once registered (please don’t worry if you haven’t heard anything back, we will have your details!) your details will be entered onto a secure database where we will keep them until a gamekeeper or shoot captain requests people. We will then contact the people in the area to find out which people are available. Their names and phone numbers are then passed to the gamekeeper or shoot captain who can call them to have a chat about the opportunities. We also have over 130 County Representatives who are actively working to find opportunities for people and link shoots up with beaters and pickers up

We hope you will join us and maybe even help, we will never refuse the offer, and aid us in making an active contribution to the countryside. We hope you enjoy the website and become a frequent visitor to keep up to date on the latest NOBs news.

Warmest Regards

The NOBs Team