21 Dec Getting Involved in the Community with Bower YFC
Bower Community Engagement
Bower Young Farmers were awarded with the “Community Engagement” Award (supported by Galbraith) at SAYFC’s Five Star Awards Dinner last month. This award capped off a successful and busy year for the club who won Club of the Year at this year’s Royal Highland Show and have been heavily involved in the Caithness District Centenary Celebrations.
One of the club’s main aims for the year was to become more involved and recognised within their community and build relationships within their area. They were able to achieve this in many ways including:
- Volunteering– Every year the club offer to help cover local silage pits; they are also heavily involved in their local county show, volunteering themselves to set up before and clear up after the event; alongside this they made a float for the Wick Gala parade and helped to run a local Senior Citizens Lunch.
- Running Competitions– This year the club ran a Logo competition at their local primary school; a Scarecrow Competition for members which was a huge hit, with the local community enjoying seeing the entries pop up in gardens and fields around the area; and the club also ran an Open Stockjudging which was very well attended.
- Donating– The club used all their events and competitions to help raise money for local charities; Alongside this, they also donated wreaths to local care homes and community buildings and collected for the local Foodbank.
Club Secretary Beth Douglas gave this statement on behalf of the club:
“We were delighted to be recognised for our work throughout the year. This year we wanted to focus on building relationships and networking outwith the agriculture industry and found it actually benefitted our club and our members more than expected along the way and we’ve gained a lot of support in return too. We’ve covered silage pits, ran open stockjudgings, helped at our local senior citizens Christmas lunch and gotten involved with the local Gala and it has all been just as rewarding to us as well as the groups we’ve helped.
She also had a message to other SAYFC clubs:
Don’t be shy to get involved – reach out to local primary schools or community groups and just ask what you can do to help. There are opportunities all over and the help is hugely appreciated. It doesn’t have to be big fundraising events all the time – collecting for your foodbank at the back of a club meeting, offering a hand at local shows or donating items such as wreaths/floral arrangements after a demonstration evening. Little things go a long way in the community! We already have plans for our future community involvement going forward and it’s become part of our syllabus to actively give back throughout the year where we can. It’s great for young farmers clubs to get involved in the community, not only to promote the organisation but to build those connections outwith the club which ultimately will benefit your club and your members in the long run.”