Do you know FEPA ?

Interview of Bill Hedley, President of FEPA

Could you tell us about the history of FEPA ?

FEPA was founded in 1989 because there was a growing need to make sure that the views of the European associations were represented properly in wider philatelic discussions around the world. There was also a strong desire to help the associations to learn from each other by coordinating activities and disseminating news. Thus, the function of FEPA can be summed up as being, ‘to encourage, to support and to represent’ its Members, the national Federations. It does this through a Board which currently has seven members, each of whom comes from a different European country. The Board reports to the FEPA Congress which in normal times meets annually.

What are FEPA’s main activities ?

• Dissemination of news, information and best practice through its website (fepanews.com) and a twice-yearly publication ‘FEPA NEWS’. We also began recently to send out an e-mail newsletter every three weeks to extend audience reach.
• Recognition of conspicuous achievements through the annual award of medals and certificates of appreciation.
• Coordination of activities on behalf of members where joint action can be mutually beneficial.
• Encouragement of international cooperation and friendship, e.g. by granting patronage or recognition to exhibitions with an international dimension.
• Organising seminars on philatelic topics, normally in the context of exhibitions.
• Promoting and encouraging youth philately.
• Representing our members as necessary.

The 2020 COVID crisis has caused massive disruption to international philatelic programmes, and the full extent of this is still not clear. As a result attention has turned to what can be done virtually as a substitute for the loss of opportunities to meet, exhibit and learn. FEPA has played its part by disseminating information about virtual events as it became available, and we will continue to provide up-to-date information and news for the benefit of all collectors through the website or, if they want it delivered to their inbox, through the newsletter.

What can we wish you for the future?

Looking to the future we will be seeking opportunities to promote recognition of the benefits of international cooperation to the philatelic community as a whole, especially in a time of rapid change. We also want to recognise the shared interests of the different branches of the philatelic community, including collectors, the philatelic trade and the philatelic press. However, the effectiveness of this depends on how widely our aims are recognised and supported. At present FEPA’s recognition factor is not as high among any of these groups as we would like.

How to know more over FEPA or stay informed of your news?

People interested can add their names to the Newsletter distribution list. All they have to do is to send us a message at info@fepanews.com giving their name and e-mail address and it will be done. Of course they can also take a look at our website : https://fepanews.com/

We are also always on the look-out for interesting pieces of philatelic news, especially if they are of benefit to collectors. Again, all that is needed is to send us a message at info@fepanews.com.