Whitchurch YFC, Shropshire
93 (16 Juniors, 52 Intermediates, 25 Seniors).
Whitchurch Rugby Club on the first Wednesday of each month for a business meeting, with social meetings every week.
This year our two main fundraisers have been a bonfire and firework display held in November and our ploughing match in March. We have also hosted a charity auction, carol singing, quiz nights and most recently a Bongos Bingo evening.
As well as weekly meetings, we also organised a farm tour and took part in the Shropshire Show with our Rapunzel-themed float.
We’re currently selling tickets for our Annual Dinner Dance in September.
We enjoy taking part in a variety of competitions and have made it through to area and national rounds this year.
Our ladies’ Tug of War team managed to make it all the way to the national final at Tenbury Agricultural Show this August.
A junior member represented Shropshire in the Stockperson of the Year, winning the West Midlands Area round.
Four of our members also made it to the Brainstrust national final for the first time this year.
We are passionate about community involvement and have raised more than double the usual amount of funds for charities this year.
We raised £19,000 for three charities – Shropshire Rural Support, West Midlands Air Ambulance and Whitchurch Community Hospital.
We did this by organising events such as our Bongos Bingo, a charity auction and our ploughing match. Organising the national final for the ploughing match was a huge task for a young top table.
We also worked with the local Rugby Club to put on an affordable bonfire and firework display for the town of Whitchurch.
Last August the club was in danger of folding due to none of the members wanting to stand for a position on the committee.
Luckily, four young members stood up to take on the challenge. Our expectations as an Advisory Committee were to just have fun and get members more involved. They have managed that and beyond!
At this year's AGM in August, we had multiple nominations for almost every role. This shows how much effort the outgoing top table has put in.
We have also had a record-breaking year, raising over £19,000 for charity.
We have managed to invest in our club allowing us to purchase our own gazebos, which will be used in our ongoing events.
We are looking forward to continuing to raise money for charity, welcome new members Into the club and all the benefits that come with it – and of course having fun along the way.
Winning Club of the Month will mean a lot to the whole club as everyone has put a lot of time and effort into making this year such a success.
Submitted by Tracey Pyke, member of Whitchurch YFC's advisory committee.
What a turnaround for this club! We were so impressed that four younger members took on the responsibility of leading the club when no one else wanted to do it – and even more impressed with how much they achieved in their first year in office.
While the fundraising, community projects and competition successes are excellent achievements, what stood out to us was the inspirational leadership. At the club's AGM in August, the culmination of their hard work has resulted in more people wanting to take on committee roles for the year ahead!
Well done to the Club's top table and to the whole club for working as a team.
