Lucy’s Round Up

The Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC) Membership Rises by 40%  

Now that’s one inflationary figure worth celebrating!

Covid was hard on Young Farmers with isolation from lock downs, the cancellation of many events, and of course this affected cash flow and membership. As one would expect from Young Farmers, they just got on with it and many of their events and meetings became virtual and they met up in person when circumstances permitted.

It’s a new world now, and it was great to see a year of new projects and events with members having fun.

The activity throughout the organisation has led to the growth in membership from 2,500 to 3,500 in the past year and that number is expected to rise even more on the back of a drive to develop our offering for members.

With our new national structure, we have a fresh focus on how we raise funds, celebrate success, grow our organisation and help even more young people in rural communities be the very best form of themselves that they can be.

It has been an exciting year for SAYFC. A year of many “firsts” and “achievements”. Some examples of this success:

• The creation of a National Junior Committee aimed at ensuring we remain relevant to our youngest members, the future of Young Farmers.
• The building of a gender-neutral approach to rules and competitions.
• A year where SAYFC invited young farmers from England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland to compete in a new Five Nations Stock Judging Competition.
• An impressive 62 clubs competed in the National Bale Art at the start of October which helped to promote the newly formed organisation, Farm Strong.
• A large sum of £80,000 has been raised by Clubs for local communities and charities!

It is brilliant to see that despite SAYFC facing challenges, the organisation is developing in really exciting and positive ways. While we are progressing, we are immensely grateful to the Ingliston Trust and the International Trust for their massive financial support during a challenging financial period.

On the 3^rd December, we celebrated the success of our members at the Five Star Awards Dinner with our members, past members and supporters of the organisation.

We continue to be supported and influenced every day by those who went before, who pass on their legacies in the form of helping us to hold, host, finance, train and judge events. We are thankful to them all. We are constantly aware that our job is to pass it on in a manner that ensures the organisation is stronger and more relevant as each year passes.

Lucy Mitchell

SAYFC National Chair