When Leicestershire County Chair Ollie Haines asked for support for a young farmer who was running the length of the UK for charity, he was uplifted by the reaction. Ollie, 26, shares why he loves the YFC community and how it supports rural young people.
I have been a member of Norton & Gaulby YFC since I was 13 and have been the Club Chair. I became County Chair in October 2025 after being a Vice Chair.
I live on my family’s dairy and beef farm in Leicestershire. We have 140 milking cows and 40 suckler cows.
I have done Dairy Stockjudging nearly every year since I joined, as they made me do it as I’m a dairy farmer’s son! I have made it to the national final this year.
I was fairly quiet when I first joined and now, I’m quite talkative because I’ve gained more confidence from going. I quite enjoy the Public Speaking because that’s a great skill, and the stockjudging. They’re the best bits about being a member as they build your confidence.
It’s the friendships that have kept me going back and because of how it’s connected to the farming community. I’ve had two jobs through Young Farmers that have been offered to me.
Will Sercombe, who has been a member of Melton Mowbray YFC, is running the length of the UK to raise money for Cancer Research UK in memory of his dad Charles Sercombe, who sadly died from the disease.
The family, who have all been involved in Young Farmers, wanted to find safe places where Will could park his campervan each night as he moved down the country towards Cornwall.
Our county and clubs have shared posts and helped promote and lots of counties have stepped up to support. After joining a national YFC AGRI meeting, I posted in the group chat about it and other counties started contacting me to offer help.
It feels good when the whole YFC community comes together and counties are willing to support each other. It’s incredible to see how much money and awareness Will has raised for Cancer Research UK.
This will be around the 10th year that Norton & Gaulby YFC has collected Christmas trees for recycling. The year I was chair, we collected over 350-400 trees!
I also helped organise a summer party when I was chair and we raised £9,000 for Kidney Research in one night!
Other clubs in the county are also big on fundraising – Netherseal YFC do a lot and Lutterworth YFC did a cycle ride to our Area Weekend in Skegness this year and raised over £12,000!
Sometimes, we do have to remember that Young Farmers is a charity too. In our club we try to fundraise to subsidise membership for our members. It also acts as an incentive to encourage them to join.
We were very involved in relaunching the Drive it Home road safety workshop for NFYFC. We have also recently received funding from the Crime Commissioner’s Office to support more road safety work.
The funding has meant we have been able to share road safety messages on re-useable cups for the county rally. We’ll be hosting a road safety awareness event at the Police headquarters with drone and dog demos and winter car kits for everyone. We’re also using the funding to support 50 driving experiences for under 17s to practice in a safe environment.
If you would like to donate to Will Sercombe’s fundraiser, please donate here.
