A Herefordshire young farmer says it feels “absolutely brilliant” to win the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) Junior Member the Year competition.
Lucy Hall, 18, a member of Dilwyn YFC in Herefordshire, won the title after competing at the national final, which is sponsored by Tama, in Staffordshire in July.
Lucy, who recently completed studying for A Levels at Hereford Sixth Form College, joined her local club in 2019 and has been an active member ever since – even during lockdown periods of the pandemic.
Over the past membership year Lucy has competed in competitions as varied as stockjudging and dancing. Keen to represent younger members’ voices, Lucy joined the club and county junior forum committees. She is currently busy fundraising for a trip to Kenya in August with NFYFC and Projects Abroad, where she will support projects in rural communities.
The competition requires participants to keep a record of their YFC activities throughout the membership year, and then take part in an interview and give a presentation to the judges.
I really enjoyed my interview process. I had to do a speech about YFC. I am so passionate about it that it just felt natural sharing all I had achieved in the past year.
The experience of preparing for the competition was brilliant and I got to look back at everything I had achieved, which was a such unique opportunity in a competition.
I think this is a great award because it really encourages juniors to document what they have done and by qualifying for it you get a place on the national Youth Forum, which I am looking forward to getting involved in.
Lucy Hall
Young Member of the Year Winner 2023
NFYFC’s Youth Forum is made up of the seven finalists from the competition as well as an elected representative from each of NFYFC’s seven Areas.
Lucy, who would like a career as a veterinary surgeon, will now join the national Youth Forum and be part of their meetings where they ensure younger members are represented throughout the organisation.
Despite Lucy’s active involvement in YFC, she admits to being nervous while waiting for the results on Competitions Day.
“It’s always a horrible feeling when you hear more and more names. Your heart rate goes through the roof, your knees go all funny and then my name was called out and it just felt absolutely brilliant. I’m so proud to have won this award.”
