11 February 2020

Ruth Cooper, 17, from Lowick YFC in Cumbria is passionate about YFC and sharing younger members’ voices inside and outside of the Federation. As the new Chairman of the Youth Forum we found out a bit more about her plans for the year ahead.

Q. How do you feel to be the new Chairman of the Youth Forum?

A. I am very excited and honoured to take on the role. I’m looking forward to continuing my work with a group of individuals who are all very passionate about YFC. It really has been an honour to shadow Lucy Jeyes as her Vice-Chairman over the past year and if I only gain one thing in the role of Chairman, I hope it is Lucy’s passion for British agriculture.

Q. Why did you decide to stand for election?

A. Since joining the Youth Forum back in 2017, it has been great to work alongside like-minded young people who want to help change the face of NFYFC. I have achieved so much thanks to the skills I have gained from YFC and I want to give something back and ensure that younger members get the best possible experience from YFC.

Q. What do you hope to achieve in your new role?

A. I hope that throughout the year, we can continue to work on improving our organisation for younger members. Over the next year, we plan on supporting the motions submitted by the Forum to the British Youth Council back in 2019.

To do this, we plan to encourage clubs to deliver the Future Farming Curve module and also, as members, we plan on delivering it when going into schools or colleges to improve knowledge around food provenance.

We will also be continuing our work with LEAFEd to develop the Open Farm Sunday guidance for members. And we will maintain our work with all four steering groups and help them in delivering any projects for younger members.

Q. How important do you think the Youth Forum is?

A. It’s very important because it is a way for younger members to have their voices heard. YFC is an organisation run by its members, so it is vital for the younger generation to be listened to because they are the future of our organisation. We are very fortunate that the Youth Forum is able to feed into other steering groups as it means that we can represent our views at all levels of Council.

Q. How do you think this experience will help you in your own personal/professional life? 

A. It will help me to develop my leadership skills and further my presentation skills when delivering reports. Most importantly, however, this experience will help me to build on teamwork skills, both as a team leader and a team player.

To find out more about the Youth Forum, visit here.