High achieving clubs and counties were awarded trophies at NFYFC’s 93rd Annual Meeting of Clubs (AMC) in April, with individuals recognised for achievements in training, speaking and presentations.
One trophy is decided during the meeting as it is presented to the individual who makes the greatest contribution to the democratic proceedings. This year, judges chose 15-year-old Jessica from Leicestershire and Rutland to win the Sidney Fawcett Trophy in recognition of the two speeches she gave in support of two of the motions.
Judges Adrian Willis and Alison Ractliffe commended Jessica for speaking with “passion,” making eye contact and for showing “she believed in farming and this organisation.”
Jessica, who will be the fifth-generation farmer on her family’s 430-acre beef and arable farm, gave a speech on the proposed changes to inheritance tax.
“How can we be expected to carry on the legacies of our families when we are faced with such a huge tax burden? The reality is, the inheritance tax isn’t just a financial issue, it’s a barrier to continuing a family farm,” said Jessica at the meeting.
Jessica, who also spoke in favour of the motion to increase the membership subscription, was surprised to be recognised by the judges but believes it will encourage her to continue speaking up on issues that matter.
“There were so many other amazing speakers so for it to be me was really quite shocking! I really appreciated it and it’s going to encourage me to speak out again on topics I believe in at the next Annual Meeting,” said Jessica. “I wouldn’t have been able to speak up if it wasn’t for gaining public speaking skills through YFC.”
With an estimated £1.5m raised for good causes during the membership year, two trophies rewarded a club and a county for raising the most money per member.
The Lionel J Hill MBE NFYFC Club Charity Cup was this year awarded to Ystradfellte YFC from Brecknock for raising £19,910.20 – which equated to £765.78 per member.
Club Chair Chloe Smith collected the trophy on behalf of the club and said she was “proud” of all the members for raising such a large sum of money.
“YFC is very important to our community. We try to raise money for charities that have helped our community. We do raise quite a large sum for those charities that mean something to us,” said Chloe about the tractor run the club held to raise funds for the Great Ormond Street hospital in support of a members’ niece with a life limiting condition.
The Prince of Wales Trophy, which was donated by His Majesty King Charles (former Prince of Wales) was awarded to Oxfordshire County Federation for raising a total of £25,785.33 with 272 members, which was equivalent to £94.80 per member.
County Chair Rebecca Ludlow collected the trophy and said the main contributor to the fundraising total was a Ridgeway Challenge by Faringdon Seniors, covering 87.5 miles, in eight hour relays by 10 members.
Witney Juniors also helped by raising more than £1,000 for Oxford Hospitals through quiz nights.
“Other clubs have done bonfire nights, quizzes, balls – there has been some amazing fundraisers this year,” said Rebecca. “We do a lot of it and I think we’re really proud to do it. I’m really proud of all the people who give up their time to run the events and make it work. It’s a fantastic achievement.”
Members of Liskeard YFC from Cornwall were recognised for making the largest donation to the Addington Fund, for disaster relief delivered through Forage Aid. Andrew Ward MBE – founder of Forage Aid, which is now part of the Addington Fund – presented the Forage Aid Trophy to Liskeard YFC’s former Chair William Kitto.
The club hosted a range of activities including a fireworks event, bingo and carol singing to raise £5,000 for the charity.
“We enjoyed doing the community work. A lot of people we helped come along to our fundraisers throughout the year and it’s a nice way to give back to them. Being in the farming community, it’s also surprising how close knit everyone is.”
Trophies were also awarded for achievements in competitions, with Cumbria A winning the NFU Trophy for the Champion County Federation in national competition finals in 2023-24. Yorkshire A won the Tug Wilson Trophy for being the Reserve Champion County and Bedfordshire won The Worshipful Company of Farmers’ Trophy for being the Champion Small County Federation whose membership figures are among the lowest 50% of counties.
Berkshire's County Chair Katie Goodwin collected the Merrick Burrell Tankard, which recognised the County Federation's achievement of having the largest percentage increase in membership over the past three years, at 52.27%. Katie said clubs had put a lot of effort into creating more in-person activities for members after the pandemic and that the county team visited to clubs to support them.
In the remaining individual awards, Dan Grist from Devon won the Young Farmers Ambassadors’ Trophy for his multi-media presentation documenting his trip to Canada. While Tom Nichols from Leicestershire and Rutland won the Top Trainers Trophy for a second consecutive year, recognising his achievements at delivering training to the highest percentage of members from September 2023 to August 2024. It also recognises Tom’ s excellence in delivery and continued hard work.
Tom started delivering training sessions in 2022 and achieved his target of delivering training to every club in his county. Tom was also part of a training drive to deliver the revamped Drive it Home workshop to clubs in his county the following year.
Tom said: “I enjoy delivering all my training sessions and the county roadshows are the highlight of the year. You get a lot of clubs come to one meeting and to be able to make that meeting engaging and active and to have a lot of members walk away from it having learned something, that’s something I take a lot of pride in.”
“I’d absolutely recommend becoming a YFC Trainer. The skills and confidence and boost it gives you are fantastic. Even if you’re not going to use presenting skills in your life, it helps you to communicate more effectively.”
