Club Officer check-in: 5 Minutes with...Rachel Kingdon, St Columb YFC

Winning last year's National Young Farmers' Week Club Challenge was a highlight for St Columb YFC and Club Secretary Rachel Kingdon was proud of their achievement. Supporting 45 members in this Cornish club means Rachel is often busy but she's been keen to refresh the club's fundraisers and has encouragement for other clubs entering the challenge this year!

Why did you want to take on a role in your club?

After sitting on the committee for a couple years, watching many secretaries plan amazing fundraisers, I wanted to change the repetitive fundraisers to gain more interest within the members.

How is your club structured?

Juniors and seniors enjoy the same club evenings together which works really well for us! We make sure club nights are varied and interesting for both juniors and seniors

How do you balance your club duties with your personal/professional life?

Being Secretary is a full-on role and separating club duties from your personal life is hard, however with a great committee behind me supporting me it has really helped me keep a healthy balance.

Tell us about a top skill you've developed through this role?

My organisation skills. Being secretary requires a lot of organisational skills to keep the club running and fundraisers to run smoothly

What's a challenge you have faced as a young leader of a club and how did you overcome it?

It's been really hard changing fundraiser ideas as we are stepping out of the comfort zone that past chairs and secretaries have created over the years. But with the support of committee members, we managed to plan and execute them successfully.

We had done a lot of bingo, quizzes and cake sales and while we have kept some of these, we have also included new idea such as a tractor run and we're organising a ploughing match.

It's good to involve the farming side within fundraisers to encourage our members to get involved, as we were noticing this decreasing.

Why did you decide to get involved in the National Young Farmers' Week Scarecrow Challenge last year?

We take part in the National Young Farmers' Week club challenge every year! It's a fun and engaging way to start the year for all members.

Did the scarecrow scene help to promote your club and attract any new members?

Yes, we had a bigger turn out to our new members' evening than we have had in years. It was a fun way to promote our new members' evening than the usual social media posts

How did it feel to find out Matt Baker had chosen you as winners?

We were so proud of our members when we won. We come from a club in the middle of Cornwall, which sometimes feels like we are miles away from other big clubs and counties, so to be recognised by Matt Baker for winning with our scarecrow scene was amazing and definitely a great way for our committee to start their roles.

What one tip would you give to others about taking part in the Scarecrow Challenge this year?

Get the whole club involved. It's a great way to spend evenings chatting, socialising and creating memories!

If you would like to be featured in our club officer check in, email media@nfyfc.org.uk. Find more information and guidance for club officers in the YFC Handbook.