Last night, Staffordshire Young Farmers Club hosted their Pre-Show Reception which was kindly sponsored by Abbotsholme School, Rocester and Stafford Land Rover at the YFC Office on the County Showground. The evening was attended by sponsors, supporters and invited guests of the Federation.
The evening proved to be very entertaining with the ‘YFC’s Got Talent’ Competition, where competitors presented any talents of their choice from singing to comedy. The judges, Laura Bull and Fred Allen commented that the eight acts they had judged were all absolutely fantastic and really gave the audience an evening of entertainment to remember.
After the acts had performed, the winners were announced as Leek YFC consisting of Meg Barnes, Holly Stanyer, Izzy Proctor and Lizzy James with their farming take on Dolly Parton ‘9-5’. Second place went to Emily and Eve Phillips of Uttoxeter JNFU with their highly entertaining sketch featuring Physic Sal with her not so physic powers! Third place was a very funny ventriquilm act from Rob Mollatt & Toby Hall of Uttoxeter JNFU.
The Club Display Competition was also held during the evening. Members created a display promoting their club in a space no larger than 1m2. The judges, Laura Elliott, NFYFC Vice Chairman and Dave Allen from Shires Vets said “We were impressed with how well the clubs promoted themselves in a compact space and are really pleased to have been asked to judge this competition.” The final results were, 1st place Stone YFC, with Waterhouses YFC 2nd and in 3rd place were Ashley YFC.
Various cheques were also presented to members who had been successful in gaining a place on the NFYFC YFC Travel Programme. Staffordshire Young Farmers Ambassadors give help and support to all those applying on the programme and this year cheques were presented to Emily Phillips and Eve Phillips (Uttoxeter JNFU) who are travelling to Nepal; Amy Nicholls (Ashley YFC) and Frances Wright (Chase YFC) are attending the Autumn Seminar in Budapest, Beth Dennis (Chase YFC) travelling to Austria, Emily Cartmail (Eccleshall YFC) going on the European Rally, Grace Gibbs (Waterhouses YFC) awarded the C Alma Baker trip to New Zealand and Michael Grigg (Uttoxeter JNFU) travelling to Scotland. Last year’s travellers were also invited on stage to talk about their experiences.
The Leslie T Chester competition results were also presented for the best 500 word story using 15 specified words. First place went to Phillippa Bourne of Stone YFC, second place to Imogen Bloxham of Eccleshall YFC with Annabelle Lane of Abbotsholme YFC coming third.
During the evening, David Heminsley presented a YFC Rural Hub Business grant to James Ball of Waterhouses YFC who is setting up his own flock of pedigree Charolais sheep. Another cheque was presented from the federation who raised funds at their Harvest Festival Service back in October, for the Farming Community Network.
The evening was a great start to this year’s Staffordshire County Show and gave everyone and opportunity to relax and enjoy a really varied night of entertainment. The purpose of the evening is for Staffordshire YFC to thank all those who support the Federation so well.
Please click HERE for photos from the evening
