Essex Young Farmers - Winter 2019

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS WINTER 2019

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CONTENTS

WINTER 2O19 04 05 06 07 08 09 11 12 13 16 17 18 20 21 23 23 24 25 27 29

Hello, I’m Felicity, I have taken on the role of magazine editor from Fiona Rust, who did a brilliant job.

DUNMOW CLUB REPORT HALSTEAD CLUB REPORT SOUTHMINSTER CLUB REPORT ONGAR CLUB REPORT ASHDON & SAFFRON WALDEN CLUB REPORT MALDON CLUB REPORT BRENTWOOD CLUB REPORT COLCHESTER CLUB REPORT WIX CLUB REPORT COUNTY CHAIRMAN COUNTY PRESIDENT COUNTY OFFICE ACTIVITIES COMPETITIONS FUNDRAISING SHOW SUBSCRIBERS TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT YOUNG FARMERS DO IT BEST CHAPLAIN'S CHAPTER

I have been a member of Dunmow Young Farmers for just over a year now and am thoroughly enjoying all it has to offer.

When I’m not with the Young Farmers I work as a veterinary nurse at Black Notley vets, which I love.

In this edition you will see that the Young Farmers’ year is definitely well underway with many harvest suppers, parties and firework nights having already taken place, with lots more to come. So until the next edition, have a great Christmas and a fabulous new year.

Felicity x

DECEMBER

DECEMBER

DECEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

JUST A MINUTE COMPETITION

ONGAR PARTY

MALDON PARTY

WIX VALLIES PARTY

PLOUGH SUNDAY THAXTED

01

13

21

28

12

WHITBREADS BARN, CM3 3LQ LUNCH PROVIDED!

WOOD FARM, MORETON

TO BE CONFIRMED

TO BE CONFIRMED / OVER 18S ONLY

JANUARY

JANUARY

JANUARY

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

TRACTOR RUN

TOUR OF ALDI DISTRIBUTION CENTRE

GOLDEN WELLY BALL

CROSS COUNTRY RUN

PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION

LITTLE BRAXTED HALL

PARKLANDS, GALLEYWOOD

WHITBREADS BARN

MARCH

12

21

25

26

STARTS AFTER PLOUGH SUNDAY SERVICE

BOREHAM (LIMITED PLACES SO PLEASE LET COUNTY OFFICE KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND)

FEBRUARY

FEBRUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

CHELMSFORD PARTY

EASTERN AREA TRAINING WEEKEND

NATIONAL COUNCIL WEEKEND

SOUTHMINSTER 3 LEGGED PUB CRAWL

FOREST LODGE FARM

GRAFFHAM WATER

MARCH

MARCH

A&SW 75TH BALL

COMPETITIONS PARTY

07 14

07-08 20

15-16

07

02

13-14 EX FACTOR

CHELMSFORD

MARCH

APRIL

APRIL

EASTERN AREA SPRING COMPS

PRELIMS PARTY/ CLUB EXCHANGE W/E

WIX SPRING BALL

MAY

JUNE

JUNE

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS SHOW

EASTERN AREA SUMMER COMPS & PARTY

HALSTEAD MR ESSEX PARTY

BOYTON HALL, ROXWELL CM1 4LT

SUFFOLK

28-29

03

04

ESSEX

APRIL

05

PRELIMS DAY

APRIL

09

SOUTHMINSTER PARTY

17

06

12

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

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CLUB REPORTS

DUNMOW

YF CLUB REPORT Hi everyone,

LIV BEER WE HAVE HAD A FANTASTIC YEAR SO FAR, STARTING WITH THE BAR AT COUNTESS OF WARWICKSHIRE SHOW, RAISING A TOTAL OF £1,600 FOR FIVE PARISHES

As per usual Dunmow have had an extremely busy and great last year with attending competitions, parties, harvest suppers and raising a total of £1,450 for Macmillian and Alzheimer’s, our chosen charities.

To top this off we have had a fantastic year so far, starting with the bar at Countess of Warwickshire Show, raising a total of £1,600 for five parishes.

This was also a great end for last year’s committee with James Humphreys as our Club Chairman followed by Sara Skinner as his Secretary. Following in their footsteps is Jack Waterfield as Chairman and Zoe Barton as Secretary. Jack and Zoe have got some exciting things planned ahead for the new Young Farmers year.

A couple of weeks later was the first competition of the year, rounders, for which Dunmow had a full team and managed to come second overall! This really showed what Dunmow can do when everyone comes together and works hard.

A tradition of Dunmow Young Farmers is to attend Oktoberfest in Chelmsford. Each year we go and each year we have a brilliant time!

We had over 30 people attend, made up of our own clubs’ members amongst many others, too.

Upon came the Harvest Supper, and thanks to the Leeder family we were once again able to throw a great evening! This event involves a lot of hard work and thanks to all of our members helping to set up, run the bar and serve the food we are able to pull it off.

Following this we had a great night at our annual fireworks display which has been held at the Hills’s for the last four years! It was a great night with plenty of our members and subscribers in attendance.

Amongst all of this going on we have also had some great Tuesday night socials, ranging from new members’ fun and games nights, Go Karting and Scaresville - which was absolutely terrifying by the way - to doing a naked calendar shoot!

Dunmow have got a very exciting year ahead with our Christmas meal up next being held at the Fox in Finchingfield on the 20th December along with lots more exciting events and activities, such as our 70th Ball which is already being planned for next year!

Liv 04

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

CLUB REPORTS

HALSTEAD

YF CLUB REPORT

The start of the Essex Young Farmers calendar has been a very busy one for Halstead Young Farmers and, just like previous years, we are still standing as one of the largest clubs in Essex. You will always find our members attending every social event, sporting tournament or party and we as a club take pride in the fact that our members love getting involved. However, we are always looking to expand our club and find new members to join us! So far this year we have had a new members’ evening around Halloween which was pumpkin carving and we were lucky enough to have the pumpkins supplied to us by Foxes Farm Produce - it was a great night and many existing members attended, bringing potential new members along.

FRANCESCA SIMES

HALSTEAD YOUNG FARMERS CLUB IS FILLED WITH MEMBERS THAT EXCEL IN THE SPORTING SECTOR AND WE CANNOT WAIT FOR ANOTHER SEASON OF TUG OF WAR

Newport Pagnell Ball

One of our biggest events so far this year has been our Casino-inspired ball held at Sturmer Hall. We filled 16 tables of new members, existing members and subscribers from clubs all over the county. Newport Pagnell Young Farmers, our exchange club from Prelim’s weekend, also came to support us with our ball and we also had a great exchange weekend in return seeing what they do as a club. We also had great live music performances at our ball by Zak Stankevitch, one of our club members.

Halstead Young Farmers club is filled with members that excel in the sporting sector and we cannot wait for another season of Tug of War, hopefully getting some of our new members on the rope and having a great turnout at every competition - as this is what Halstead Young Farmers do best!

So far this year we have attended every social and sporting event including a rounders

Pumpkin carving

tournament in which we came joint-first with Ash & Saff. We have been doing lots of rugby training at Sudbury Rugby Club for a tournament coming up and we have had many weekly social events such as rock climbing, Rollerworld and the usual pub socials which are still held at The Bell on a Thursday evening.

After a great season last year, we as a club would like to thank our previous Club Chairman and Secretary Ben Hopkins and Paige Mitchell and welcome Josh Pease and Charlotte Thornton into their new roles for another great year for our club!

Francesca

Halstead YFC Tug of War

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

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CLUB REPORTS

SOUTHMINSTER

YF CLUB REPORT Well hello,

As I sit at the old typewriter looking out at the wild weather sweeping the Dengie I look back on better weather and a wild summer!

As a club we still met weekly, though they revolved around pubs rather than educational talks. Along with meetings we attended flower shows and various summer activities.

JACK GARWOOD

Once the harvest came to a close we saw the old committee come to an end and allow this year’s committee to take their places, though in SYFC tradition we mainly just swapped roles. So thanks must go to Alex and his committee for another fantastic year with the club only continuing to prosper. We also welcome in Lizzy to the Chairman’s role, so good luck Lizzy and the team. The only thing left from last year was the SYFC fundraiser, where we headed to the big smoke to abseil from the Arcelor Mittal Orbital. Well done to all of those that took part and a huge thank you to everyone that gave money and helped us to raise over £1,200 for The Farming Community Network.

Since then the year has been non-stop, with harvest services, rounders competitions and everything else that county have put on.

Southminster have enjoyed all of the events so thanks to all those that helped make them happen. Our own programme has also started with a vengeance and with everything from jewellery tours to squash and pottery painting to fire brigade tours, it’s been the perfect start to the year! We even managed to squeeze a party into the mix - we certainly enjoyed trawling the charity shops for the most horrendous outfits possible (or a full suit as I managed to find, £9, how could I not?!).

Thanks to everyone for coming and I hope you all had sore heads the next day!

We had a blast going around the county to events. We went to Wix and Dunmow Harvest Suppers which were both fantastic evenings, so thank you both for having us. Then there was the Essex YFC Harvest Service, a lovely service and a BBQ beforehand, what more could you ask for?!

Halloween quickly followed, and thanks to Brentwood for a great evening - it’s got Southminster in the mood for a party. With fireworks after, Southminster just went down the route of a large bonfire and not a lot else, though we very much enjoyed going to various club displays so well done to everyone for some fantastic displays.

Before I head out into the cold I’d better mention our exchange. What a great weekend!

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ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

We headed straight to the do (party to us), we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, seeing those that came down in April and meeting the rest of the club. Southminster have recently welcomed a Wix member along (don’t worry, he’s still an active Wix member too) and he joined us, he enjoyed the do so much that he barely noticed a local member’s advances - the poor girl didn’t get a look in! The next day we popped to a pub to watch the rugby.

Sorry for the spoiler but it wasn’t our day, regardless, we had a very nice breakfast before heading to a farm tour.

Well, it was an amazing tour at a large dairy with solar panels, a wind turbine and an AD plant powering and heating the whole place. There were covered silage pits an,d most impressively, robotic milkers - the whole place was incredible.

From the farm we went to a couple of local pubs and a fireworks display, too. Sunday we took a walk up the Malvern hills, well I can tell you the scenery is slightly different from Essex. From here it was a quick drive to a pub (seeing a theme yet?) for lunch and that was the weekend done!

It was the most fantastic weekend with a great bunch, so a huge thank you to Inkberrow for having us and putting on a fabulous weekend.

Well, I guess that’s about it from me.

Southminster have a busy festive period coming up, so I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and we hope to catch up with everyone very soon.

Jack

CLUB REPORTS

ONGAR

YF CLUB REPORT Following an incredibly busy summer for Ongar members, the Young Farmers year was about to begin again!

Looking back to September, we held our AGM at the White Hart in Moreton and saw the election of our new committee and, as a club, look forward to what the year ahead has in store with lots of fresh ideas and new faces getting involved!

HANNAH GILES

WE SAW A WONDERFUL TURN OUT OF BOTH FAMILIAR AND NEW FACES TO ENJOY A SPECTACULAR DISPLAY OF FIREWORKS

One of the first events of the year saw us with a rather early start and aprons at the ready for a morning of bacon roll cooking at the Ongar Ploughing Match held at Horsefrith Farm. The event was a brilliant success for both Ongar Young Farmers and organisers! It was fairly safe to say that nobody wanted to see another rasher of bacon for at least a week after a morning of cooking! A large event in our club’s calendar is the Harvest Supper. This evening consisted of a brilliant quiz and delicious paella! It also saw our new Chairwoman, Eleanor Gemmill, taking on the role from Elena Nichols to carry on leading our club onto great successes in the forthcoming year. A brilliant turnout from both current Young Farmers as well as subscribers gave us all a chance to have a good catch up after a busy summer and an opportunity for everyone to become a little competitive!

Being an Ongar member means wintry Tuesday nights are never boring as an array of activities are always in place.

September saw us speeding our way round the Harlow’s Team

Sport go-karting track and even saw two of our members make the top ten fastest times of the day! Another fun-filled night was at Top Golf, Chigwell, where we also joined Dunmow’s club allowing for some serious competitiveness and lots of laughs! Talks are often something that happen throughout the Ongar Young Farmers calendar, and with thanks to one of our own members, Billy Vaux, we also had a very informative talk from the crew at Leaden Roding Fire Station.

A highlight of our November calendar is our fireworks night, which this year we held in conjunction with Chelmsford Young Farmers. This year’s event was kindly hosted by the Galloway’s at Mount Farm.

We saw a wonderful turnout of both familiar and new faces to enjoy a spectacular display of fireworks whilst we feasted on homemade cakes and sausage rolls, washed down with many glasses of mulled wine!

The evening was also a chance to begin raising money for our chosen charity, Yellow Wellies, a charity that works closely with Young Farmers clubs, HSE, farm safety partnerships and other farming organisations in supporting the mental and physical health of those involved. A great night was had by all!

As a club, our calendar continues to be filled with a variety of events including talks, competitions and activities all taking place before Christmas! We also look forward to a wide range of events, and activities going into 2020!

Hannah

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

07

CLUB REPORTS

ASHDON & SAFFRON WALDEN

YF CLUB REPORT Hi everyone!

Ashdon & Saffron Walden has had a very busy start to the new Young Farmers year. It started with our club AGM where the new committee was voted in and we presented the cheque to our chosen charity of the year, MIND WEST ESSEX. This was a lovely evening, celebrating the successes from the previous year and passing committee roles on to new people.

We then had our Harvest Supper which was kindly held at the Magness’s farm in Thaxted.

It was a really nice, casual evening. Fiona Rust gave her last speech as chairman before handing the role over to Lucy Westwood. The club would like to thank Fiona for all the hard work she put in last year and wish Lucy the best of luck!

LUCY HITCHCOCK

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We had a lot of Ash & Saff members, old and new, attend Dunmow’s Harvest Supper which everyone really enjoyed.

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

We also had a small group of us attend the Halstead Harvest Supper, too, so thanks go to both clubs for hosting.

We have had a variety of socials from crazy golf, rock climbing, a well-attended farm tour around E W Davies in Thaxted, a pub quiz, the Blues & Twos talk at county building and some pub socials.

We have loads of exciting stuff coming up in the next few weeks! We are going to see our friends down at Ilminster YFC for our club exchange. The weekend will consist of a farm tour, Young Farmers Ball and some very sore heads!

We also have our club Christmas meal to look forward too and some great Tuesday nights lined up!

Lucy

CLUB REPORTS

MALDON

YF CLUB REPORT Hi everyone, Maldon has had a great start to the year, beginning with our AGM at the Blue Boar in Maldon where our new Club Chairman and committee for the year was elected. A few members also helped at the E J Taylor charity and football family fun day that they held on the 21st September at the Promenade Park in Maldon. It was a good day and everyone enjoyed themselves.

We had our exchange weekend with Dorset Young Farmers on the 4th-6th October. A few of us drove down and kick-started it with a night at their local pub. Lots of fun was had on the farm tour around Arla Dairy Production on the Saturday, followed by a heavy night out in town.

NICOLA GILBEY

On the 15th October we had our new members meeting at the Purleigh Bell, where a total of seven new members joined us. It was the perfect opportunity for everyone to welcome the new members and to have a laugh and enjoy the unique games with a few highly amusing drawings while playing Pictionary.

We have had a variety of weekly meets these last few months, with a board games night, cocktail making at The Black Rabbit and pumpkin carving. There was also the rounders competition on the 29th September - even though Maldon may not have won, everyone still had high spirits from a good day and enjoyed helping out other clubs to make up teams.

Bailey and Jamie are proud of their cocktails

Maldon have held a few other events recently such as our annual fireworks display, which was a successful night with a brilliant turnout.

A big thank you to David for allowing us to hold the event on his land, it was a great location.

Scott playing chess on games night

Coming up we have our annual Christmas tree selling on 8th December, outside the Essex Motor Factors at the bottom of Market Hill. This year we are hoping to have a second location, the other being in the layby on Maldon Road, Great Totham near The Bull Pub. We also have our Christmas Party on the 21st December.

If you are interested in purchasing a Christmas tree, please keep up to date with our Facebook page where all the latest information and club activities will be. Hope to see you there and on behalf of the club best wishes for a Merry Christmas!

Nicola

The club members carving their pumpkins ready for Halloween

Everyone outside Frankie and Benny’s Sunday morning on the exchange weekend

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

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CLUB REPORTS

BRENTWOOD

YF CLUB REPORT Well, what a start to the year we have had! Brentwood has well and truly come back fighting after taking a bit of a hit last year, and we are well on our way to being back in the running for one of the best clubs in Essex Young Farmers. Our Club Chairman Sam Jones has done an amazing job of recruiting a large number of new members and, of course, all of us oldies returning for another year.

SAM SMITH

IT WAS A MASSIVELY SUCCESSFUL NIGHT WITH AROUND 60 PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE WHICH WAY EXCEEDED OUR EXPECTATIONS AND IT WAS LOVELY TO SEE SO MANY OTHER CLUBS FROM ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS COME TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT

Our first major achievement of the year being awarded Club of the Month in October for having the most signed-up members in Essex Young Farmers, this is huge for us as we have been a relatively small club for the last few years. As Sam likes to say #MakeBrentwoodGreatAgain. We had our first party at the end of October, hosting Halloween this year and what a night that was.

With over 100 people through the door, it was a cracking night and one that will hopefully set the bar high for any future parties.

We have also just hosted our annual fireworks display at Marsh Farm and all donations will be going to our two chosen charities, Essex Air Ambulance and Riding for Disabled Association. It was a massively successful night with around 60 people in attendance which way exceeded our expectations and it was lovely to see so many other clubs from Essex Young Farmers come to show their support - we are extremely grateful.

We have lots of exciting stuff planned for the rest of the year, Liv Smith our programme organiser has done a smashing job of organising this for us. We are hoping to plan a quiz night for our chosen charities soon and we are in the process of organising a talk with the trustees for the Riding for Disabled. Once we come into some nicer weather we are hoping to get the club out to ride some horses at my yard. Our Club Chairman Sam thinks he is good at all sports... we will see how he fares on the back of a horse!

Sam

Our Club Chairman Sam doing what he does best at the car treasure hunt

New members Eliza and Renee at the Halloween with the old classic, Pumpkin spiced Liv

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

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CLUB REPORTS

COLCHESTER

YF CLUB REPORT

Hey everyone, I’m Erin! I will be writing the Colchester YFC reports this year.

We began in September with the AGM where our new committee was formed. The following week we attended the Corn Maze, kindly hosted by Guy French at Foxes Farm Produce.

This is one of our favourite programme nights as the girls and boys split off inside the maze, hunting each other down and making each other jump all evening!

The following Thursday some of our girls attended their first ever Tug of War training session in prep for the new season. Hopefully the team will continue training and get involved in future competitions.

ERIN THOMAS

We then had a speed dating evening which was extremely successful and surprisingly good fun! We all found out some rather interesting facts about each other, and it was great to find out more about our influx of new members!

On the 12th October we held our annual Harvest Supper. One of our goals for the year was to engage our parents and subscribers and get them more involved with the club again as we seemed to have lost touch over the years. I can safely say that we achieved this goal, as was proved by the turnout of 131 guests, only approximately 40 of these were current Young Farmers...the rest being parents, subscribers and old members! We also raised a whopping £720 on the raffle and heads and tails game for our charity, Colchester Kidney Patients Association!

The Monday after Harvest Supper saw the majority of our members visit Scaresville at Kentwell Hall. Although the weather was horrendous and there was an hour delay on their time slot, they all had a fantastic time getting scared out of their skin!

On the following Monday 21st October, a Rugby training evening was organised in Sudbury, joint with Halstead Young Farmers to get in shape for the Rugby competition later in November. I think it’s safe to say we aren’t the most athletic club going, but everyone had fun.

A few members gathered on Wednesday 23rd October to go on a

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ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

leaflet drop for our fireworks night, delivering the posters to the locals in hope of getting even more attend this year and raise another tremendous amount of money.

On Sunday 27th, eight Colchester members braved the cold October evening and stripped for charity! That’s right, we took part in a naked photo shoot for the Essex YFC charity calendar. If you want to see the full picture, then you’ll have to buy the calendar when it gets released later in the year! Thanks once again to Emily and Guy French for sponsoring us and letting us use your pumpkin patch for the shoot.

On Monday 28th October we had our annual pumpkin carving night, with pumpkins kindly donated by Emily and Guy French at Foxes Farm Produce, The Pumpkin Patch. We had around four new members turn up, one of which won the competition! As usual, this is one of the most fun meetings of the year… even if it was freezing!

Monday 4th November saw our members stuffing ‘Guys’ for our fireworks night the following weekend. We ended up with at least eight straw-stuffed Guys to be burned on the bonfire.

Once again, our fireworks night on Saturday 9th November proved to be a huge success, with friends, families and members of the public joining us for the bonfire, fireworks, BBQ and bar. The event was kindly sponsored

by The Cricketers pub and Foxes Farm Produce, so massive thanks to them.

Coming up we have our charity cheque presentation for the 2018-19 charity, Colchester Kidney Patients Association and our Christmas meal at the beginning of December!

That’s it from me, I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year!

Erin

CLUB REPORTS

WIX

YF CLUB REPORT Wix have hit the ground running this year with a whole host of events and activities that have taken place already. Once harvest came to an end, our Thursday activities commenced with a few socials to give everyone the chance to catch up after the busy summer!

TAMSIN SPRAWLING

AS PER USUAL WIX GOT CREATIVE WITH THE OUTFITS AND TURNED OUT IN STYLE

Wix YFC on Bonfire night

On the 26th September the year officially started with our club AGM at the Haywain in Wix YFC Pumpkin Carving Night Little Bromley. It was lovely to hand over the cheques to last year’s charities and hear a little Southminster (and Nathan) for being the about how the money would be spent before winning team! welcoming in the new committee. Tom Fairley certainly seemed pleased to hand over his With the never-ending wet British weather responsibilities to our new chairman Liz we had in October, our Maize Maze evening at Bacon, let’s just say he doesn’t remember too Foxes Farm with Halstead and Ongar had to much of the remainder of the evening! be cancelled. However, the plan was quickly amended and everyone headed off to Roller On the 3rd October, we headed to the Crown World instead. As far as I’m aware, no serious Pub in Thorpe for an evening of “getting injuries occurred! to know you” bingo and speed dating. The following week, we had a talk from the To finish out October, Wix had a busy weekend Farming Community Network, one of our with Brentwood’s Halloween Party on the chosen charities this year, and a short Friday, followed by running the bar for a meeting to set out the year ahead. surprise 50th birthday party on the Saturday and, to end it all, our naked calendar The first party of the year came around – photoshoot on Sunday evening! We succeeded Southminster’s Charity Shop Party – and, as in getting our photo thanks to our chief per usual, Wix got creative with the outfits photographer Hannah Marshall and some and turned out in style so assistance in placement from Tom Fairley. If thank you Southminster for an you want to see how it turned out, you’ll have awesome evening! to buy the calendar!

Our Harvest Supper hog To keep up with all our activities on a roast and quiz took place on more regular basis follow us on Instagram the 19th October. A fabulous @wixyfc evening was had by all with a huge turn out from all Thank you for reading and ‘til next time, our subscribers and many other clubs – thank you to everyone who attended and congratulations to

Tamsin x

Wix YFC Pumpkin Carving Night

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

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Rural Planning & Farm Consultants Commercial Development Opportunities on Farms There are lots of planning mechanisms for commercial building opportunities on farms at present.

• Agricultural buildings of less than 150 sq.m do not require a formal planning application to a commercial use and are deemed to benefit from planning consent.

• Agricultural buildings between 150 sq.m and 500 sq.m benefit from permitted development rights to flexible commercial uses subject to a prior approval process with the Local Planning Authority.

• Formal planning permission for the change of use of agricultural buildings or redevelopment of farmsteads.

• Opportunities also exist where there is a justified local or economic need for greenfield commercial development. This includes extensions to existing commercial premises on farms.

Guy French MRICS FAAV

e guy@foxesrural.co.uk t 07842 527064

www.foxesrural. co.uk

& k c cli t c e l l co op.com h s e o d ernest

WARM UP THIS WINTER

WITH WITH ERNEST ERNEST DOE DOE Rayne Road, Braintree Tel: 01376 321144 Haven Road, Colchester Tel: 01206 871881

Ulting, Maldon Tel: 01245 380311 Fyfield, Ongar Tel: 01277 899464

Weir Pond Road, Rochford Tel: 01702 544562

COUNTY REPORTS

COUNTY CHAIRMAN BEN SELL

G

ooday, folks! Hope you’re all keeping well? I guess as this is my first report I ought to introduce myself really... for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ben and I’m your County Chairman for the year! I come from a farming background, hailing from Basildon in South Essex. We have a bit of an assortment of everything back home, from cattle and sheep to arable and contracting, as well as straw contracts and an anaerobic digester. The Sell family name dates back a while in the Essex Federation, with my mother and father being Brentwood and Wickford members back in the day, and my two elder brothers and sister all being Brentwood members, meaning it was only fitting that I joined Brentwood, too! My father Tim and middle brother Andrew both have their names on the County Chairman’s board at county office, so I will be the third Sell to be fortunate enough to appear on the board!

I have been a Brentwood member since the age of 15 where I slowly built up my Young Farmers career. I started off as Countryside Chairman where I started to meet the likes of Ben Cove (Chelmsford) and Tom Mapes (Ongar), and this really was the time I started to get myself into County which I can honestly say I would never change. Club is fantastic, and you should never forget where you came from, but getting up to County has opened so many doors of opportunity and has led me to meet people from all over the county - I would recommend it to anyone!

So, that’s enough about me, what have we been doing this year so far? Well, I can start by saying that. at the close of play last year, the Essex membership total was at 319 I believe? I hope I’m right in quoting that! But I can say that, as of TODAY, Essex Federation of Young Farmers has 340 members, which I think deserves a massive pat on the back to you all! We’re not even out of 2019 yet, so that’s an awesome achievement. I had hoped to get Essex’s membership total up to 350 for my term as chairman, so hopefully that’s a goal that we’ll be able to achieve! So, if you’re reading this and haven’t signed up yet, DO SO! We got the year off to a strong start with our ‘County Car Treasure Hunt,’ where we had multiple teams from across the county attend

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and take part which was fantastic to see!

We finished this off with a festival-themed treasure hunt party, complete with outdoor stage, BBQ and, of course, a bar! All of the members that attended proudly drank this dry which was a great beginning to the next Young Farmers chapter. A huge thank you must go to Paul and Bridget Shrimpton, as well as Andrew and Jessica Sell, for kindly lending us the venue, to Christy Willett for the stage and to all of the members that lent a hand in getting everything set up accordingly. You know who you are, so thank you all very much.

My girlfriend Emily and I were also lucky enough to attend nearly all of the Club AGMs and Harvest Suppers. We missed a couple due to them clashing, but did our utmost to be everywhere we could.

The club AGMs were all to a high standard which was fantastic to see, and I’m certain that everyone that’s taken on a role as Chairman across the county will do a cracking job. You’ve all got big shoes to fill from your predecessors, but I’m positive that you’ll all meet up to their standard!

All of the Harvest Suppers were fantastic, too!

I racked up just over 1,000 miles visiting all of the club AGMs and Harvest Suppers, but I can honestly say it was worth every mile! All of the Harvest Suppers were excellent, and no two the same. We had everything from Wix’s hog roast and quiz night to Halstead’s

I AM VERY PROUD AND HONOURED TO BE THIS YEAR’S COUNTY CHAIRMAN, AND I’M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE UPCOMING YEAR

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

black-tie ball, and attendance to all of these was phenomenal. It was great to catch up with old faces, but just as great to meet new ones and see just how much pride each and every member takes over their club positions.

It really does pay off and show, and as clichéd as it sounds, the more you put in the more you get out - fact! Thank you to all of the clubs that hosted us, and to everyone that bought me a beer or two!

There have already been some pukka parties, and again I have been shocked as to how good attendance to these has been. Young Farmers really does seem to be on a high at the minute, and I really hope it’s not just me that feels it, but the vibe and atmosphere at the minute really is amazing and I hope this can only continue and improve as time goes on!

In addition, we also had the Chelmsford harvest service after our rather soggy rounders competition. Again, this was wellattended. A special mention must go to Liz Bacon and Hannah Marshall for attending the service afterwards, armed with sheaves of wheat to contribute towards the thanks for harvest. This was closely followed by our County Harvest Festival at Fobbing church.

We had an amazing amount of support in the form of harvest gifts from every club. There was a BBQ at Marsh Farm prior to the event, which totalled over £300 in profits which were split with The Farming Community Network and RABI after the service.

There have been several other bits and pieces going on so far this year, but I feel it would be better suited for this year’s glamorous committee to inform you as to what’s been going on in more detail, so please do have a read through the rest of this magazine and get the low-down as to what we’ve been up to in the Young Farmers world.

All I can say is I am very proud and honoured to be this year’s County Chairman and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming year! I look forward to meeting more of you as time goes by and enjoying a few Doombars with you. Please stay tuned and keep an eye on the diary dates, as there is lots going on in the upcoming months!

Cheers folks,

Ben

COUNTY REPORTS

COUNTY PRESIDENT MILES LEEDER

W

elcome everyone to my first report as the new President of Essex Young Farmers and seasons greetings to all Young Farmers, subscribers, sponsors and friends of this great institution.

I succeed Robert McGowan and other previous County Presidents who have been instrumental in guiding new ideas into the federation and supporting the best youth movement in Essex. I thank Robert for his advice in my role as President Elect and introducing me to our Trustees who I look forward to working in the next few years.

After a 25-year absence of involvement in Young Farmers, I feel honoured once again to serve the federation and assist in advancing new ideas from the membership to fruition. However, with such a dynamic team of enthusiastic young members at county and club

level, ably-assisted by our two staff members, the Essex Federation is already in good hands and a county envied by other federations throughout the country.

Much of the success is due to our Country Show. Not only in financial terms, but the bringing together of young people with many varied skills, willing to learn new challenges and roles.

As a County Chairman in the 1990s, I can vouch for the virtues of meeting lifelong friends and acquaintances and learning new skills that stand you in good stead for future years.

It is satisfying to know that Young Farmers has changed very little in three decades and the members still carry forward the values of teamwork, charity, education and, most importantly, FUN! I am only beginning to realise how busy Young Farmers are throughout the year and I thank Robert for his two-year Presidential role and appreciate what a busy two years I have ahead of me.

When asked for a job description for the role of President, two previous Presidents and our most influential Life Vice-President, the late Roy Boreham, all said: “Don’t worry, Miles, you’ll pick it up!”

Not a great help but, equally, I hope I will fulfil my role with the energy of my predecessors.

Two subjects I hope to have an influence on is the slightly dwindling membership and the much-loved National AGM. Essex Young Farmers membership, in line with national trends, has been falling for some years now. Although this is due to many factors, it would be nice to know that we could see a gradual rise in numbers to buck the trend and we have new ideas coming forward all the time on ways to increase this.

One thing we can do is spread the good word of the Young Farmers movement, and if every subscriber and member encouraged a young person (not just from an agricultural background) to try out an evening with Young Farmers, our membership would double overnight.

In the past year I have received the grievances of many Essex members from nearly every club on the loss of the National AGM. It’s obviously a very passionate subject and I shall be doing all I can to relay this message to our National Federation and maybe to bring back this major event in the Young Farmers calendar. Ultimately, this will go hand-in-hand with the membership issue so, if I can make a difference, I will.

I look forward to visiting all clubs in the not too distant future and introducing myself personally.

Miles Leeder ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

17

COUNTY REPORTS

COUNTY OFFICE

MARY & CAROLE

H

ello from county office!

We had a great start to the year with our new County Chairman Ben Sell’s Funday event – a car treasure hunt which eventually led to the party venue in the evening.

With over 80 people signed up by the end of the day, all that attended said what a brilliant event it was. Mind you, I’d say Ben was lucky with the weather - a lovely warm day and a dry evening! We’ve been busy in the office with forms rolling in, membership is definitely on the up and, with a full calendar, fingers crossed this continues.

From the diary dates on page three you will see that there’s been some additions and a shake-up of the calendar this year. No New Years’ Eve party but the Golden Wellies has been revived and this is shaping up to be a fab event. Parties so far this year have been really successful and well-attended which

18

is great for both members and clubs alike.

Firework nights all went well, I attended Brentwood’s which was full of ooh’s and aah’s, loads of fireworks and a big attendance! Ben is organising a tractor run for January which we hope lots of subscribers and members will come along to. If you would like to take part, just get in touch with us here at county office.

By now all subscribers should have been made aware of the subscription changes for 2020 - upped to £35 for a single subscription and £50 for a double. There hasn’t been an increase since 2013 so we hope you understand the need to up the cost. Hopefully you will have been able to amend your standing order, but if you have any problems with this just call us here at county office.

As I’m writing this, Carole and I are busy polishing the silverware for the County AGM. This is a good time to reflect on everything good about our Young Farmers and the past

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

year. We had Lydia Freeman take up the challenge of the YFC travel trip to Nepal, too many to mention take up the opportunity of grants from the Training and Development, Ellie Gemmill who stepped up to take our NFYFC exchange student (always grateful to those who do this!) and our great team at club and county level who keep everything going.

I’ve also just polished the NFYFC Prince of Wales trophy which was presented to Essex again for the third year in a row for charitable funds raised in 2017-18.

Well, it’s getting dark outside and those dogs can’t walk themselves! Milton (Security) Maddie (Meet & Greet) and Uncle Stitch (Retired) - have been patient but enough is enough!

The compliments of the season to you all!

Mary & Carole x

COUNTY REPORTS

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CUP The Roy Boreham MBE Cup for Best Tradestand under 20m Edward Baker Cup for Best Trade Stand Dalgety Spillers Trophy for the club gaining the most points on Prelims Day Violet Robson Cup/Women's Institute Cup for the best cake in the Exhibition Hall Stansted YFC Cup for the most points in the Exhibition Hall (club) Alderman & Mrs A. Craig Bowl for the individual gaining the most points in the Exhibition Hall Stuart Pountney Rally Challenge Cup for the club gaining most points in Show competitions (sporting) Harlow Young Farmers Shield for Girl's Tug of War Paragon Petroleum Cup for Men's Tug of War S Marriage Cup for Junior Public Speaking JA Hunter Salver for Intermediate Public Speaking Pattullo Higgs/Cup for Senior Public Speaking Senior Public Speaking Best Chairman Cup Ursula Boreham Intermediate Speaking Best Speaker/Chairman Cup Mrs Tom Howard Cup for the club who gained the most points in non-sporting events (excluding Show) Ernest Doe & Sons Victor Ludorum Shield for the most points gained in sporting competitions Richard Seldon Award for the highest percentage increase in membership for active clubs Colonel Crawford Cup for club efficiency Elmbridge Trophy (Norman Smith Cup) for outstanding contribution to Essex YFC Kings Seeds Cup for the best chairman DJ Ewing Essex YFC cup for achievement Wix Fundraising Award Gilbert Aukland Trophy for the Senior Men's Young Farmer of the Year Mrs Percy Hasler Merit Cup for the Senior Ladies Young Farmer of the Year James Hines /Essex Club Cup for the Intermediate Mens Young Farmer of the Year Bramton Shirley Award for the Intermediate Ladies Young Farmer of the Year Essex YFC Chairman's Shield Essex YFC Award for Junior member of the year Essex YFC Award for Best Club Secretary W. A. Church (Bures) cup for the Club of the Year President's Show award President's Award for Services to Essex YFC Show - Star of the Show President's Award for Outstanding Services to Essex YFC Show Essex Agricultural Society Award for overall individual in Stock Judging (Wyevale) Award (gift not a cup) for consistently high presentation and content of reports for the magazine Ashdon & Saffron Walden YFC Charity Clayshoot shield Subscriber vs Members Cricket Match Prince of Wales Trophy

2019 WINNER 3 Diamond Tipi Hire Harlow Agricultural Merchants Colchester YFC Tilly Purkiss, Brentwood YFC Wix YFC Sara Skinner, Dunmow YFC Wix YFC Halstead YFC Halstead YFC Wix YFC Wix YFC A & SW YFC Lucy Westwood A & SW YFC Isobel Fairley Wix YFC Colchester YFC Halstead YFC Brentwood YFC A & SW YFC Lydia Freeman A & SW YFC James Humphreys Dunmow YFC Beth Speakman Dunmow YFC Wix YFC Marcus Bailey Colchester YFC Sallie Woodward Wix YFC Joshua Cook Maldon YFC Megan Cowell Southminster YFC Jack Garwood Southminster YFC Hayden Brash Southminster YFC Erin Thomas Colchester YFC Dunmow YFC Robbie Cargill Sam Jones Brentwood YFC Ben Sell Brentwood YFC Hamish Beaton Wix YFC Vicki Melhuish Southminster YFC Ongar YFC, Edwin Nichols Match was drawn Essex raised £39,106.08 in 2017-18, over £12,000 being raised on the Essex to Blackpool Bike Ride. The figure equates to £104.84 per member that year. This is the third year in a row that Essex have won this prestigous trophy.

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

19

COUNTY REPORTS

ACTIVITIES

BETH SPEAKMAN & OWEN EMBLETON

H

ey hey!

We have loads coming up from activities for the next year and a few things we are planning to change up slightly, so make sure you keep your diary open.

For starters, we have already had our beach trip to Frinton to enjoy the seaside before the weather turned colder. Thank you to those clubs who made the effort to travel there for the evening, it was a great evening, even if it did end in the pub.

This year we’ve decided not to host a New Year’s Eve party, but we still recommend

that you organise an event with your clubs to bring in 2020. Instead we’re reviving the Golden Welly awards with a big party in January. Nominees will be selected by the Executive Committee and please look out for the voting survey (released with Action Press) to vote for each award. There are ten available and it is all in good fun, so make sure you vote.

We are currently in discussions with Popworld in Chelmsford about running a three counties ‘mini-AGM’ exchange trip with our neighbouring counties in March, to include camping at the county building, buses to taxi people into town and bacon rolls in the morning to sober everyone up. We will release

more details as soon as possible, but this will be a great way to mix people up and introduce some cross-county members to what Essex has to offer.

Finally, when the sun begins to return for the summer in 2020, we are hoping to hold an open-air cinema evening at the county building with picnic blankets and a film projected up, some snacks available as well as any refreshments you wish to bring - so lots to keep you busy!

Much love,

Beth & Owen xx

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COUNTY REPORTS

COMPETITIONS PAIGE MITCHELL & TIFF BELL

NON-SPORTING A & SW Brentwood Chelmsford Colchester Dunmow Halstead Maldon Ongar Southminster Wix

0 21 4 0 7 7 2 2 6 4

One last thing from us… taking part in these competitions is such a good way to get to know people and make friends. It doesn’t matter if you not any good at what you’re doing, it’s the taking part that counts!

That’s all from us till next time…

Paige & Tiff xx

POINTS TOTAL

15

MEMBER OF THE YEAR

15

25 20 25

We’ve also got some plans underway for a competitions party, with dates, location and an exciting theme soon to be on action press!

POINTS TOTAL

CLAY SHOOT

BADMINTON

Coming up we have a ‘Just a Minute’ competition on the 1st December at county building, which will be a great warm up for public speaking on the 2nd February, again at

LMR

TOW MEN

MIXED NETBALL

DODGEBALL

Our next competition was the rugby at Writtle.

For once, the weather was on our side and the sun was shining. Well done to everyone who showed up and took part! Congratulations to Ongar for putting together a winning boys seven-a-side team and joint Wix and Ongar, or ‘Wongar,’ as we like to call them, for getting a win for the girls.

county building. We also have a cross-country competition on 26th January at Parklands Farm, so get keen!

25 5 0 0 55 25 10 70 25 55

STOCK JUDGING

5 25

RUGBY (LADIES)

RUGBY (MENS) 20

PRELIMS

25 5 0 0 20 25 5 20 5 15

FUNDAY

SPORTING A & SW Brentwood Chelmsford Colchester Dunmow Halstead Maldon Ongar Southminster Wix

PUBLIC SPEAKING

ROUNDERS

We started off the year with a rounders competition at county building. Even though the weather and rounders balls were against us, it was a good day enjoyed by all. We even had some mini-competitions going on inside whilst teams were playing outside, including an intense game of Connect 4 between Southminster and Wix members. So well done to all the members for playing and earning

points for their club. Also a big well done to the joint team of Halstead and Ash and Saff for coming in first place, Dunmow and Ongar coming second and Wix in third!

TOW LADIES

H

ello everyone! If you don’t know who we are, we’re Paige and Tiff, Halstead members, party lovers and this year’s competitions reps! We have lots planned for this year, so keep your eyes peeled and we can’t wait to see you at all the competitions!

25 5 0 0 55 25 10 70 25 55

Please note: Exhibition Hall & Farm Valuation results are not included in the competition tables

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

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COUNTY REPORTS

FUNDRAISING ANNA COOPER

H

appy New Young Farmer Year! Fundraising has had a slightly laboured start, but is now picking up the pace - we decided to start with some fun for our clubs and have organised an Essex Young Farmers calendar showing off all of our clubs in a brilliant light…

of our clubs have taken this on and provided some great shots, alongside hopefully having lots of fun (and not getting too cold!). Thank you to each of our sponsors for helping out our clubs and providing some great, fun backdrops! We hope you all purchase a calendar and have as much fun leafing through it as everyone else had partaking in the making!

date isn’t completely confirmed yet, so watch this space! We are always keen to hear from members, subscribers and anyone involved in Essex Young Farmers for any new ideas they would like to see happen with fundraising, so please don’t hesitate to get in contact! That is all for now, I hope everyone has a lovely festive period and is enjoying the lovely winter weather…

The calendars should be available very soon and hopefully printed and selling fast within a few weeks. It’s been great to see how each

Upcoming we are planning a tractor run in the new year to start at the county building and hopefully to go ahead on plough Sunday - the

Anna Cooper Fundraising Chair 2019/20

SHOW

JACK BOSWORTH

H

ello everyone! It is good to be back for another exciting Essex Young Farmers year. I have taken on the role of Show Chairman for 2019-20… I know, God help us all!

Firstly, I would like to start by congratulating Robbie Cargill, Molly Lenton and their committee for a fantastic show back in May. I think anyone who attended the show would agree that the whole team did a brilliant job to ensure visitors and exhibitors had a great day out. For me personally, it was a very enjoyable event to be a part of and there were plenty of laughs along the way as always!

Preparations for show 2020 are now well underway. We held our AGM on Wednesday 9th October where all committee positions were filled and it looks a very strong team

that myself and Zoe Barton (Show Secretary) are looking forward to working with. Don’t forget that it doesn’t matter if you aren’t on the committee! We encourage anyone interested in helping out with the show to attend our meetings which take place on the second Wednesday of every month at county building.

Please feel free to come along and get involved!

The main sponsor of The Essex Young Farmers Show has now been confirmed and we are very pleased to announce that it is Adcock Agri Ltd. More details of this will be on the website soon.

Our main attraction has also been booked, I am delighted that we have The Diggerland Dancing Diggers Stunt Team! There will be two 30-minute performances in the main ring that will include dare-devil stunts and formation dancing.

Elsewhere, Zoe has been very busy getting more sponsorship and sorting show clothing whilst trade stand application packs were sent out recently by Mary and Carole. Jack Garwood is our trade stands organiser this year and has been doing a brilliant job in getting the ball rolling!

That’s about it from me, I would just like to add that the Essex Young Farmers Show is arguably our most important event of the year, so be sure to keep up with all the latest by reading these reports, checking the website and attending the show meetings.

Love you, bye!

Jack ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

23

COUNTY REPORTS

COUNTY SUBSCRIBERS VICTORIA FREEMAN

A

s part of the Essex Young Farmers committee, my job is to organise subscribers’ events throughout the year to allow subscribers to get together and catch up on what’s been going on. As I’m sure many of you know, friendships formed in Young Farmers can last a lifetime.

Back in the beginning of October I held a coffee morning at county building in aid of a charity called Tools With A Mission (TWAM). The charity collects old and unused tools and then reconditions them for use in third world countries where they make a huge difference.

I collected tools and equipment from various members and subscribers in the lead-up to the morning and we then had a few subscribers come along on the morning with their contributions. A huge thank you to all of those that contributed to this brilliant cause, our donation was hugely appreciated.

Although we managed to donate a large amount to charity, the coffee morning itself wasn’t terribly wellattended by subscribers. I would therefore be very grateful if you could suggest any socials or events that you’d like me to organise and Essex Young Farmers to host to enable you to make the most of your subscription.

Hopefully all current subscribers should have received their renewal letter which details the slight price increase for next year. If you’ve any questions regarding this, or any other membership queries, please speak to Mary or Carole in the county office.

Best wishes,

Victoria 24

EX-FACTOR Ex-Factor is back! Unbelievably, for the fourth time, previous President Charlie Willett has cajoled, bribed and threatened a group of fellow ex-Young Farmers into taking to the stage for an evening of comedy. Inspired by such comedy greats as Dave Allen and Harry Enfield, they will deliver two nights of laughter and merriment on 13th and 14th March 2020.

Returning to the superb and vast Wickham Bishops Village Hall, they will be sticking with the winning formula of welcome drinks, supper (which will be cooked by ex-Young Farmers and expertly served by current Young Farmers) and rounded off with a show of comedy sketches. The ever-popular old farm boys Horace and Seth will return and there will be all the Ex-Factor news about current, and not so current, Young Farmers.

To book a table for eight or ten for either Friday 13th March or Saturday 14th March, ring or text Christy Willett on 07775 510 740.

Tickets are £25 per head with all proceeds going to Essex Air Ambulance and Essex Young Farmers.

Don’t miss out, we’re not sure when, or if, there will be another night like it!

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

COUNTY REPORTS

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT TOM LEEDER

W

elcome to another year of training and development opportunities. We are very lucky in Essex Young Farmers to have so many different options available to support us with training, personal development and travel.

The training fund is topped up annually and there’s a fresh pot available to help support your training needs. This isn’t restricted to agricultural courses and trailer tests, in the past we have awarded funding for beauty training, sign language courses and everything in between. If you have a need for training in any area and would like help with the funding just fill in a form from the Essex Young Farmers website and we will consider your application.

In the new year we are looking to run a first aid course at the county building. This is a great opportunity to ensure you have a good number of first aid trained members in your club if the

worst were to happen. Please let your Chairman, the county office or myself know if you would be interested in attending.

As well as the training fund, we are lucky enough to have access to the DC Bower fund for travel.

This fund is available for educational trips linked to agriculture, the country side or to further your career. It has been successfully awarded many times over the years. Earlier this year, Lizzy Tresarden travelled to New Zealand to broaden her knowledge of viticulture and, in August, Lydia Freeman travels to Nepal through the National Federation of Young Farmers travel programme.

For those of you that are looking to start a further education course in agriculture, please remember that you have the opportunity to apply to the Witham & District Rural Education Fund to support your education costs.

National Federation of Young Farmers have a brilliant travel programme for members that is

run annually. In the past few years we have only had a couple of members from Essex take up this opportunity and it would be great to see more people applying.

Each year they have a huge variety of trips including home-stays, working scholarships, European seminars and team travel. The closing date for applications is November each year so now is a good opportunity to have a look on the National Young Farmers website to see what’s on offer and consider what you might be interested in applying for next year.

Over the next couple of months I’ll be coming round to each club to talk to you further about the opportunities on offer, but if you have any questions in the meantime, please contact me or the county office.

Tom

ESSEX YOUNG FARMERS | WINTER 2019

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CHAPLAIN

CHAPLAIN’S CHAPTER

REVD JANET NICHOLLS

Dear friends, Writing for your magazine gives me the opportunity to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated in our Harvest Festivals this autumn. With this in mind, I decided to avoid my usual corny jokes this time...

Well, the Harvest Festival season kicked off with the County Harvest Festival in Chelmsford Cathedral. This year we were ‘Celebrating Cereals’ and the service began with a grand procession of farmers and friends carrying sheaves of corn into the cathedral. Many thanks to those Young Farmers who made sheaves and joined the procession.

The cathedral remained adorned with sheaves of corn for the rest of the week, reminding visitors of the great Essex harvest and the commitment of all our farmers.

A couple of weeks later on Sunday 13th October, a few of the sheaves and the harvest loaf had a second outing as they decorated St Michael’s Church in Fobbing for our Young Farmers’ Harvest Festival. Fortified by a BBQ lunch at Marsh Farm, it was great to see so many of you head to church to give thanks for our harvest. The new county team took the lead in organising and participating in the service with every club represented on the day. As usual your generosity was overwhelming. Over £300 was given to support the work of RABI and FCN and staggering amounts of food were given to provide meals for those who find themselves homeless in Hackney.

Harvest Festival always provides the opportunity to give thanks for the harvest of the land and the work of our farmers. As I saw you take your pews in St Michael’s Church, I also gave thanks to God for such a great group of young people, developing and using their talents for the good of our society.

God bless and take care,

Janet

Revd Janet Nicholls P.S. Planning for Plough Sunday is underway! All are welcome to Thaxted Church on 12th January 2020 at 11:00am. And who needs the Red Arrows when the Young Farmers can provide a tractor drive past? All will be revealed...!

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