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The Verney Institute, Pleasley
We held a race night at Palterton Village Hall to raise money for the club with around 80 people. The evening included pie and peas, with horse racing films, in which you could bet on and receive small winnings.
The horses were also up for sale for the added excitement of seeing your own horse running, which you could also win money from. This kept everyone interested. The final race was auctioned off with a larger total up for grabs. The night brought the community together and raised a sufficient amount of money to help run our club.
Another example of our social events is our annual dinner dance to celebrate and recognise the achievements of the club. It’s always an excellent night for everyone as all ages can attend. The money raised from this was donated to Ashgate Hospice to give back to the community. We raised funds through a raffle and voluntary donations.
As well as a quiz night and a driving range visit, we have also held our new members’ evening, which included ice breakers and team building games to bring everyone together.
We all enjoy the Performing Arts competition – it’s the highlight of our year and we have a team represent us every year.
We normally enter county rounds, have a good laugh and earn some points but this year we actually placed second in Commercial Dancing, taking us to the Area round. We decided that if we were doing it, we were doing it right and put some time and effort into rehearsals.
Many hours of practice – and some stressful moments – lead to our Area competition in Skegness. Dressed in cow print and sequins, all our hard work paid off when we won! Unfortunately we didn’t place at the national final but it was still an experience for our six team members to attend and made us appreciate the standard that the rest of the country works towards.
Tug of War is also a particular favourite for our club. The last four years we have entered a team into all three categories and although results are never high, apart from the year our Ladies’ team made it to the Lincolnshire Show, we continue to go back every year with more courage to do better than last.
We have weekly practices leading up to the competition and have the best support from associate members passing on their wisdom and knowledge.
We do well in Stockjudging and Public Speaking too, with members regularly representing us at Area or nationally.
We recently held a dinner dance, where we raised £3,988 for the Ashgate Hospice.
We supported the Pleasley Pit Trust – a local charity, based in Pleasley Pit – at their last heritage open day with a stand that showcased the history of Pleasley YFC. We hoped to attract new members while also supporting the community.
We have also supported the North East ploughing match with a stall for the past few years, selling merchandise, and we use the club’s popularity to attract more people to attend the event.
These events help us to promote YFC and showcase that you don’t have to be a farmer to be a Young Farmer!
This month, Pleasley YFC welcomed a new Chair and Secretary who are cousins and the first members of their family to hold these key roles in 67 years.
Within their first few weeks, the club organised a practice ploughing session to promote the new Beginners' class introduced at North East round of ploughing matches. The initiative aims to encourage more young people to get involved in the activity.
We saw this as a great opportunity to attract enthusiastic young people with an interest in agriculture, while also promoting our local area and the opportunities available through Young Farmers.
We also held a new members' evening which, following a TikTok post advertising the event that received more than 30,000 views, attracted 35 new members. This was our highest intake of new members in five years.
The month has been a strong start for Pleasley YFC and we aim to continue upholding these standards. We are on a mission to reclaim our position as rally champions while continuing to build a supportive community that showcases what Young Farmers is all about: creating lasting memories, gaining valuable experiences, and making lifelong friendships.
Submitted by Programme Secretary Grace Hopkinson
Pleasley YFC has made an outstanding start to the new club year, combining excellent promotion and member recruitment with a strong commitment to agriculture. Welcoming 35 new members is a fantastic achievement, while their efforts to encourage young people into ploughing show a dedication to preserving and developing an important farming tradition.
