Staffordshire Young Farmers Clubs (YFC) are pleased to announce that their varied and active programme of competitions available to all members is being further supported by HSKS Greenhalgh Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, who have an office in Uttoxeter and are sponsoring the Competition Certificates for two years from 1st September.
Staffordshire YFC has organised and ran 20 separate competitions across the county already since January this year, with the Annual Raft Race concluding the year 2018/19 to see who will be crowned the winning club of the Overall Competitions Cup at the Annual General Meeting in November. When the new membership year for Staffordshire YFC starts again on 1st September, there will be a further 19 competitions held up until December. In addition to this, the federation organises an Annual Rally in May which has a further 40 competitions all held on one day!
As Hannah Bain, Associate Director at HSKS Greenhalgh explains, the firm are delighted to be supporting Staffordshire Young Farmers. Says Hannah: “Having been a member of Young Farmers myself, and a previous competition winner, I have experienced first-hand the important role that Young Farmers plays in the local community. It not only provides an opportunity for young people to socialise, but to also learn new skills, whether these be just for fun or with a view to future employment opportunities. As a firm we already support the farming and agricultural community by providing tax, accounting and business advice to many local businesses, and we feel that this sponsorship is a great way of extending that support to include the next generation”.
Polly Baines, County Chairman of Staffordshire YFC said “As a charitable organisation we are reliant on sponsorship and donations in order to continue to provide the great service and opportunities to our members. Therefore, we really appreciate companies like HSKS Greenhalgh Chartered Accountants, who have chosen to support Staffordshire YFC, and the future generation of the rural community in this way.”
Being a member of Staffordshire YFC can offer anyone aged 10 – 26 years the opportunity to take part in such a variety of competitions including Public Speaking, Stockjudging, Go Karting, Raft Racing, Tug of War, Floral Art, Sports and back again for the fourth year running this November, even Cheerleading! Some of these will lead to members going head to head with fellow members from across the West Midlands Area of YFC’s and in some cases, even reaching the National Finals. Eccleshall Young Farmers are one club who are no stranger to National finals and on the weekend of Saturday 6th July, some of their members along with members of Uttoxeter JNFU are competing in the National Show Choir Competition. In addition to this, Waterhouses YFC have just taken part in the West Midlands Area round of the Male Tug of War Competition at The Three Counties Show, defending their winning title from last year and will now go head to head and compete with the countries strongest teams at the National Finals which are held on Saturday 3rd August at Tenbury Show in Worcestershire.
Waterhouses YFC winning at The Three Counties Show.
Junior – Staffordshire A – Cheadle YFC (4th)
Ladies – Staffordshire A – Stone/Waterhouses YFC (3rd) & Staffordshire B – Eccleshall (6th)
Mens – Staffordshire A – Waterhouses YFC (1st) & Staffordshire B – Stone (3rd)
George Goodwin of Waterhouses YFC – 5th
Alicia Smith of Chase YFC – 7th
Staffordshire YFC are looking ahead to the new membership year and will recruit a new team of County Officers at the Executive Meeting which is held on 14th November 2019 at the YFC Centre. This years team of officers will be a very hard act to follow, with their enthusiasm and team work in abundance, reflected in the success of “Give Cancer the Boot” which raised over £8000 for Cancer Research and a very popular and bustling marquee at the recently held Staffordshire County Show – to name just a few events. With over 25 County Competitions and the Annual Rally hosting a further 38 competitions on the day, there is always something to do and somewhere to be!
Being a County Officer requires so many qualities, but the most important are to have a LOVE of all things YFC with an abundance of enthusiasm, being able to work as part of a team, be hardworking, act responsibly and to strive to ensure that Staffordshire YFC is successful in all that it sets out to achieve!
All clubs have been sent a County Officers Nomination Form which is due into the YFC Office by 2nd September. Full details can be found here on the positions available along with a list of current officers. If any current members are keen to get involved, do talk to current County Officers about the roles and what is involved and then make sure your club adds your name onto the nomination paper and returns it to the office no later than 2nd September.
3rd Place – Staffordshire B (Uttoxeter Young Farmers – Sam Down, Charlie Down and Sam Froggatt)
4th Place – Staffordshire A (Chase Young Farmers – James Freeman, Will Freeman and Jack Martin)
Staffordshire Young Farmers take the main ring at the County Show by storm again this year, on Thursday 30th May. They held their annual Young Farmers’ Show Float Competition with the theme this year being “Disney Films”, which meant for plenty of construction, colour and fun on each float as they created some of the most well know Disney Films! The sponsor of the competition, BD Fuels of Hixon kindly judged the floats before and during their journey into the main ring of the County Showground. This prestigious competition, the highlight of the YFC calendar and one of the most popular ran by Staffordshire Young Farmers, draws the largest crowd to the main ring when the floats, which have been worked on for many months, take to the parade. The Overall Float Competition was won by Stone Young Farmers who created scenes from the 1993 film, “Cool Runnings!” With the classic chant of “Feel the Rhythm! Feel the Rhyme, get on up its Bobsleigh time “, members got well and truly into the Winter Olympic spirit both in voice and with their costumes. Second place was awarded to Eccleshall YFC who recreated the film “Up”, complete with the house and balloons to depict this heart-warming film from 2009. In third place was Ashley YFC again this year, who bought the classic film “Jungle Book” to the main ring. Their float had that jungle feel to it with costumes and animals galore. Fourth place was awarded to Waterhouses YFC for their depiction of the children’s favourite, “Cars!” Lightening McQueen and the rest of the pals were all on the float along with a few novelty toys to entertain the crowds!
Waterhouses Young Farmers were awarded the Best Name Board Shield for their well designed and colourful sign and they were closely followed by Uttoxeter Young Farmers, who did Pirates of the Caribbean as the runners up. This part of the competition was judged by Mr & Mrs P Atkin, Vice Chairman and Mr & Mrs S Clarke, Vice President of the Staffordshire & Birmingham Agricultural Society.
Members on the Show Floats from nine clubs entertained the huge crowds and judges as they circled the Main Ring. Staffordshire YFC thoroughly enjoy providing this entertainment to the general public and raising their profile, as a rural youth organisation which is all about fun, teamwork, learning and opportunities for anyone aged 10 to 26 years. They also enjoyed a great water fight at the end which is the most favourite part for the members.
Staffordshire YFC has had an amazing two days at this year’s County Show. Their “Best of British” themed marquee has been full with people over the two days as members have put on a full programme of activities and competitions for everyone to enjoy. County Chairman, Polly Baines commented that “We have had a great two days at the County Show promoting what YFC is all about. The Show Floats were a fantastic and impressive display of skills including artwork, construction and obviously teamwork for months beforehand. We have attracted a brilliant crowd of supporters of all ages which makes for a lovely atmosphere at the show. All the clubs have worked so hard towards this week and this has definitely paid off.”
Click HERE for photos from the competition
After a brilliant first day at the County Show, Staffordshire Young Farmers held their Male and Female Tug of War in the Main Ring on Wednesday evening, 30th May. A great crowd of supporters from across the County and other clubs also turned out in force in the Grandstand to watch a hard fought competition. Many of the teams have been training three times a week since before Christmas and their hard work and efforts paid off.
Following a great standard of pulling, in wet conditions which despite the slippy main ring, made for a great competition. The results on the evening for the male competition were: Waterhouses YFC team beat Stone YFC to the 1st place position. Stone YFC were the runners-up and Uttoxeter JNFU took 3rd place.
In the ladies competition, Waterhouses YFC stormed to victory coming in first place. The results ended with Waterhouses YFC taking home the silverware on the night, Eccleshall YFC in 2nd place and Uttoxeter JNFU in 3rd place.
The 1st and 2nd placed teams from each competition will now go forward to the West Midlands Round of the competition at The Three Counties Show, Malvern on Sunday 16th June.
Click HERE for photos from the competition.
On Tuesday 28th May, 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 and sees the start of the Staffordshire County Show kicked off in style for many!
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, George Hawley & Graham Hollinshead commented that the six acts they had judged were all very entertaining and unique in their own way!
After the acts had performed, the winners were announced as Uttoxeter JNFU with Toby Hall and Rob Mollatt. Toby and Rob gave the audience plenty of laughs with their comedy duo act. In second place Leek YFC entertained everyone with their diverse Abba Tribute Act, complete with a flavour of The Full Monty, and of course, with a farming spin! Taking third place was Eccleshall YFC’s comedy act which consisted of a group of members looking to attract Dan Moseley via their version of “Eccy Tinder!”
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, Dewi Parry, NFYFC Vice Chairman and Tracey Chamberlain 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 Eccleshall YFC, with Leek 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 Amy Nicholls (Ashley YFC), Sam Fowell (Eccleshall YFC) and Mike Grigg (Stone YFC) who are travelling to Costa Rica and Lizzy Chapman (Ashley YFC) who is going to Austria. Last year’s travellers were also invited on stage to talk about their experiences including Grace Gibbs of Waterhouses YFC who has spent three months on the C Alma Baker Trip to New Zealand.
The Leslie T Chester competition results were also presented for the best 500 word story using 15 specified words – sophisticated, paradoxical, napkins, cow, refreshing, flipflop, registered, gangster, armadillo, dictionary, chocolate, trump, giggle, capacitor & mardy. First place went to Phillippa Bourne of Stone YFC (for the third year running!), second place to Imogen Bloxham of Eccleshall YFC with Annabelle Lane of Abbotsholme YFC coming third.
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 with sponsorship, hosting events, stewarding and giving in their time to volunteer for the charity.
Each Club has 1m x 1m cube to promote their Club at this years Stafford County Show, the displays are judged and the results were:
1st – Eccleshall YFC
2nd – Leek YFC
3rd – Ashley YFC
Photos of all the displays can be found HERE
6 Clubs took in this years competition, with the results being:
1st – Uttoxeter JNFU
2nd – Leek YFC
3rd – Eccleshall YFC
Read more about the competition HERE and photos from the night can be found HERE
