Yarcombe and District Young Farmers are a charitable organisation for the young farming and local community in the surrounding areas of Yarcombe.   The club was founded in 1947 and since that date we have been running strong as one of the biggest clubs in Devon.   Members are between the ages of 15 to 27 and take part in many activities within YFC including public speaking, stock judging, charity fundraising, sport, acting, many social events and skills for life activities.

Over the past years we have held many of our own events including our annual foam and water parties, charity duck race, fancy dress raft race, bingo, harvest supper and much more.   Members have been on scholarships to many different parts of the world, entered many competitions and gained lots of skills.

Ultimately we are a club of likeminded young people who have lots of fun!

 

 


November 2024

On Wednesday 6th November, we entered in the Agrifest South West 2024, at Westpoint Exeter with our club promotion board and scrapbook, coming 2nd with the scrapbook!

53 members attended Somerset Young Farmers’ Annual Ball on the 23rd November at Sedgemoor Market, this was lots of fun and gave a chance for members to socialise with other Young Farmer Clubs from Devon and Somerset.

To round off November, we held our wine & wisdom at Yarcombe Village Hall. We had 15 tables and raised an amazing £1,031 for Devon Air Ambulance, our chosen charity of the year. Thank you to our club leaders and members who allowed the night to run smoothly.

To contact the club about any information, please contact our Chairman Andrew Stanbury (07507392107) or Secretary Eleanor Gibson (07494140515)


October 2024

At the start of October, we had our new members meeting at Yarcombe Village Hall, with many people in attendance including pass and new members.  The evening was full of games and lots of fun!

We had our first pantomime meeting, on the 21st October, where lots of members came along to get involved. We will continue with weekly practices now until January, ready for the East Devon Round.

On the 26th October, members went to Exeter Cathedral to help decorate the East Devon Group pillars for the harvest service which was held on Sunday 27th.

At our Halloween meeting, we carved pumpkins and decorated them with flowers, kindly supplied by Sarah Broom of sarahbroomfloraldesign.

Our next event, is our annual wine & wisdom on the 29th November 7:30pm at Yarcombe Village Hall, to book a team please contact Vicky Pearse (07951-895958).

Lily Farmer, Yarcombe YFC Press Secretary


September 2024

On Sunday 29th September we held our annual Harvest Supper at Otter Valley Field Kitchen & Ice cream, with 70 people in attendance.   Thank you to Becky and her team for a delicious supper.   It was great to celebrate the club's past achievements and well done to those who won awards.   Also, a huge thank you to our guest speaker Sophie Aplin who is a Nuffield Farming scholar and organic farmer.

This was followed by our Club AGM on the 30th September where our new officers were elected with our new chairman Andrew Stanbury and secretary Eleanor Gibson.   We have already organised our new members meeting on the 14th October at 8pm in Yarcombe Village Hall.   Please come along and join us to find out more – you don’t have to be a farmer to be a young farmer!

Lily Farmer, Yarcombe YFC Press Secretary

 


August 2024

As the Young Farmers' year is coming to an end for our officers in post, the month of September we reflect on the fantastic year we have had as a club & all the amazing money we have raised for the charity Yellow wellies.   We have had a great year fundraising for charity by a wine & wisdom, carol singing, tractor run, whist drive, drama re-run, helping at open farm Sunday, spring disco, summer disco & charity cream tea.   The club have also enjoyed many fun social activities including pumpkin carving, a tour to Complete Meats, first aid talk, Police talk, Cox’s machinery tour, wreath making, Christmas meal, balls, BBQ & rounders nights and many others.   Also involved in competitions including the drama, show & sale and local Honiton show and sports competitions such as TOW.   We will be celebrating our year at the end of the month with our annual harvest supper at Otter Valley Field Kitchen & Icecream on Sunday 29th September.

The month of August into the start of September has seen the club meet to discuss upcoming events and enjoy many social activities attending various clubs discos in the local area at many of these events pulling TOW.

Three members from the club went on the Junior SWA weekend away to Shropshire on Friday 16th August - Monday 19th August.   A great weekend of activities was had by those who went.

On Sunday 8th September we held a charity cream tea & big raffle afternoon at Yarcombe village hall.   Thanks to everyone who came along to support our event, we took £830 on the day.   It was great to see the hall full of lots of people and thanks to all those who helped.   Many thanks to all the local companies who kindly donated prizes including from the York Inn, Blackdown farm services, The grazing cow, Otter Valley field kitchen & icecream, Otter Brewery, Pecorama, Seaton Tramway, Vicky Pearse hairstylist, Sarah Broom Floral design, Combe Garden centre, Sedgemoor livestock market.   Also thanks goes to Daisy's Dairy for supplying the milk.

Upcoming we have our annual harvest supper on Sunday 29th September to celebrate the past years achievements as a club, followed by our AGM on the 30th September.   Keep an eye out for our new members meeting anyone is welcome to join us ages 15-28 to be held possible date of 14th October at Yarcombe village hall 8pm – you don’t have to be a farmer to be a Young Farmer!   Great way to meet new friends and get involved in competitions and having fun.

For future information about the club our new secretary will be Eleanor Gibson (07494-140515) and new chairman Andrew Stanbury (07507-392107)

Natalie Sampson, Yarcombe YFC Secretary

 


June  -  July 2024

The months of June, July & August have been particularly busy for the young farmers enjoying and working in the nice summer weather.  As a club we have been busy with lots of fundraising and social activities as well as meeting up as a club to discuss our upcoming events.

June ended with 20 members attending a tour of Cox’s machinery in Chard.  Thanks to Cox’s for putting on a great tour & food, everyone seemed to enjoy the night.

On Saturday 6th July several members attended our annual club bike social ride, enjoying a good afternoon cycling around the local area.  A fun time was had by all who cycled from Flintlock car park to Candlelight to York Inn & finishing at the Sidmouth Arms, enjoying a few drinks along the way.

Our Summer disco was held on Friday 26th July by kind permission of the Burdge family at North Waterhayne farm.  This year we had a new theme of a ‘Ball Pool Party’.  A lot of organisation went into this getting 150,000 balls from Manchester to Devon, thanks to the Burrough family haulage.  Also thanks to those then making the ball pit, which I think members say was a lot of fun to dive into.  The night was well attended over 300+ and we made profits of over £1700 going towards our charity of the year, Yellow Wellies.  Many thanks to the Burdge family, especially for all the help and to members & advisory for help setting up, on the night & packing away.

The club entered several club and individual entries, well done to everyone taking part in the annual Honiton show on Thursday 1st August.  The club cubicle came 2nd, Scarecrow 2nd, Upcycled Pallets 3rd, Scrapbook 3rd, Promotion Board 4th, Women’s TOW 2nd, Men’s TOW 3rd.

Upcoming we are holding a Charity Cream tea & big raffle on Sunday 8th September from 2pm at Yarcombe village hall, everyone welcome to attend.  We also have our annual harvest supper on Sunday 29th September to celebrate the past years achievements as a club, followed by our AGM on the 30th September.  Keep posted for our new members meeting in the future.


May 2024

May has been a busy month for the club, involved with sports competitions, social events and fundraising events.   We started off with a group of members attending Whimple YFC 80th anniversary ball at Sandy park on the 3rd May, a good night was had by all who attended.   End of May was rounded off by several members again enjoying an evening of dancing & getting glammed up in ball outfits attending the East Devon YFC western boots & buckles ball on the 31st May.

Members took part in the annual Devon County show on 16th-18th May.   Well done to Daniel for sorting the entries out & the club cubicle it all looked great.   Thanks to those who helped out with the cubicle Flowers – Ella, Cookery – Natalie, Art – Lily/Bea, Textile – Rosie. Painting – Hannah.   Also many thanks goes to Lorna for doing the scrapbook & promotion board, it was a great display.   We took home some respectable prizes the club cubicle came 14th, scrapbook 3rd, men’s TOW 3rd & women’s TOW 5th.   Well done to all those took part in TOW it was great to see both a men & women’s team taking part. Also well done to those who took down individual entries.

On Monday 27th May we helped at Stockland fair Monday 27th May as approached prior by the committee.   Many thanks to the 7 members who helped at this event with car parking.   The fair committee was very pleased with our efforts despite the damp day.   They will be kindly donating some money to our charity of the year Yellow wellies.

Sports update: a team of members went to Okehampton to take part in the Devon YFC round tag rugby on Sunday 5th May, well done to all those who took part.   Both men & ladies teams have been busy practicing weekly for tug of war, they have several competitions & Friday night leagues coming up over the summer months.   They have been doing a great job & progressing very well.

Our pub of the month was held on Saturday 8th June at the Sidmouth arms with live music.   It was good to see lots attend.   This is where each club in East Devon takes it in turn each month to hold a get together at a pub.

Daisy Dairy Open Farm Sunday 9th June.   Many thanks to all those that helped at the event with either the BBQ & car parking, this was a excellent fun day.   We raised a great amount on the BBQ too which will be going towards our charity of the year. Lorna & Jim was very pleased with how everything went on the day and thanked us for all we did, it was great to go back there the night after for a BBQ & rounders social evening, thank you to them for hosting us.   A massive well done must also go to Jim & Lorna Burge as they put on a fantastic event for everyone to come to and learn about all aspects of farming.

Upcoming we have several social & fundraising events in the process of being planned including a tour to cox’s machinery on the 18th June, also a possible bike ride social and our annual summer disco on Friday 26th July. Let’s hope the weather stays sunny.

 


April 2024

We have had a busy few months with a great balance of getting involved with competitions, socialising and fundraising and a group of members recently attended Whimple YFC 80th anniversary ball.   It is nice the weather is now starting to get warmer and we have plenty of things lined up for the summer months including local machinery, brewery & vineyard tours and club games nights.

At club meetings we have been busy planning summer activities and had a local police officer & former member Daniel Pidgeon come along to our meeting to talk about rural crime & all about being a police officer.   We had a first aid night in March where a local paramedic & practice nurse came along to teach us about CPR, chocking & burns.   It was two very interesting talks and we hope to have other local talks coming up at club meetings including Synergy vets.

Members took part in the annual show & sale at Exeter Market on the 10th April, this was a great opportunity to show off livestock they have been looking after all year.   Members took home some respectable prizes.   Well done to Hannah Dare for wining beef out of dairy class, 2nd place Bea Martin & 3rd place Wiktor. Hannah then went through to the next round & was awarded reserve champion.   In our sheep classes Will Vinning came 1st for his ewes & lambs, 2nd place Dan Olive & 3rd place Ella Wittridge, 4th place Kyle & 5th Sharon Dyer.   Thanks to our judges Marin Broom for sheep & Ed Davies for beef.   Also many thanks to our sponsors.   We rounded these celebrations off with a cup presentation night at the Sidmouth arms.

On the 19th April we held our annual spring barn disco this years theme was ‘wellies & workwear’.   Held by kind permission of the Hine family, thank you for allowing us to use your shed.   We had a fantastic turnout and raised a great amount, profits totalling £5,600.95.   Many thanks to members and advisory for helping make it a successful night.   We have our summer disco due to take place on the 26th July venue & more details tbc.

Well done to members who have been busy taking part in sport competitions East Devon Mixed netball held on Sunday 28th April at Honiton sports centre. Tag Rugby held on Sunday 5th May at Okehampton.   Well done to all those who took part in these events.   Both girls & boys tug of war teams are busy weekly training in preparation for upcoming devon county show & Friday night leagues.   Good luck to all those involved.

Upcoming in May we have the annual Devon county show in which members have been busy getting club & individual entries ready including the club cubicle. In June we are due to help out at Daisy Dairy Open farm Sunday, this will be a fun day out for all the family so please do come along to support this event.

 


January 2024

‘Deeds not Words’ - What an amazing performance!

Well done to the Drama cast of 2024 for coming 3rd in in the East Devon performance round at Exeter Barnfield theatre on Saturday 3rd February.   Congratulations to Natalie Sampson for being nominated for Best Actress and Andrew Stanbury and Will Vining for being nominated for Best Actor.   The team of members put in lots of hard work and time the past few months learning lines, creating and painting scenery and putting the performance all together.   Many thanks to all those who helped and supported us along the way to get the drama running as amazingly as it did.   A special thanks to our producers James Burrough and Sarah Broom, also to those helping with the lighting, make-up, backstage, costumes and scenery we couldn't have done it without you all.

We welcome the public to support us at our re-run on Sunday the 11th February at Axminster Guildhall 1:30pm for a 2pm start.   Good luck to the team for their performance at this with extra entertainment to follow the drama.   Tickets are available on the door as well as refreshments and a raffle with proceeds being raised for our chosen charity of the year ‘Yellow Wellies’.

 


On 12th January we held Whist Drive at Yarcombe Village Hall, lots of great prizes were won.   Thank you to Martin Broom who came to teach our members how to play Whist during our meeting on Monday 8th with a great turnout of 40+ all keen to learn, practice and get ready to play on the Friday.   We then had a fantastic turnout of 68 keen Whist players attending helping us to raise £380 profits for our charity.   Thank you to everyone for coming, supporting us and helping on the night of the event.

On 16th January a Group of members met at The York, Churchinford for Pub Sports playing Darts, Pool and Skittles against Axminster.   Well done to Yarcombe for winning.

Members got their ball dresses and suits ready for the dance floor at Somerset Ball on the 20th January at Sedgemoor Market, with a full bus of 55 Yarcombe members attending, a great night was had by all.

Saturday 27th January We held our annual Wine and Wisdom evening, teams of 6 got their heads in the game for the quiz.   A Great turnout of 15 teams and we raised an amazing £768 in profits to our chosen charity of the year.

Dates for the diary:

● Saturday 10th February - Devon valentines ball at Exeter Racecourse, over 18s only, the deadline to get these tickets has already passed.

● Sunday 25th February - Tractor Run and Dyno day Yarcombe and District YFC. Dyno 9-12:30 with the tractor run to start at 1pm, starting at Stopgate Farm for roughly 2 ½ hours of Driving around the parishes of Yarcombe, Upottery and other surrounding villages before finishing at Barleymows Farm shop.   BBQ and Refreshments are available for everyone throughout the morning at Stopgate.   For more information please contact Natalie on 07775 591324

● 19th April Yarcombe and District YFC Spring Disco


November/December 2023

Firstly Yarcombe and District Young Farmers hope you had a lovely Christmas and wish you a happy New Year!

What a busy few weeks for Young Farmers!   Everyone's diary gets filled with plans over Christmas but Yarcombe Young Farmers certainly filled the weeks before Christmas with many exciting festivities.   It's been so hard to condense everything that we have done into this report; here's a small insight of what our large circle of friendship within the group enjoyed during the festive time of year.

On the 20th of November we replaced one of our club meetings with a visit to complete meats in Axminster to see the behind the scenes in preparing meat and producing products to a high standard.   After a tour, members had fun learning to make sausages which was very entertaining to watch each other get stuck in and have a go.   Many thanks to the Vining family for this opportunity for our club.

In the first week of December, a group of girls got creative with an evening spent Christmas wreath making with Sarah Broom, some beautiful results to show off to their friends and families.   Thank you to ‘Sarah Broom Floral Design’ who offers this opportunity each year for our members.


Members enjoyed a warm atmosphere at the Sidmouth Arms for our Yarcombe YFC Christmas meal on 8th December; with some delicious food and friendly faces it was a lovely evening.

The following evening a large number of members got their dancing shoes on for the annual Marshwood ball at Freshwater holiday park, after a bit of time at the bar and a few drinks into the night everyone made their way to the dance floor!

With no time to rest their feet after a good night on Saturday, members supported a local family by helping them with some good old turkey plucking on Sunday.   Thank you to the family for their support provided for Yarcombe YFC throughout the year and to members who came, what a festive fun packed weekend for our club.

On the 12th of December we had the chance to get competitive on the skittle alley with a member's skittles throw off with some close results at the end, everyone who attended enjoyed a sociable night.

After all of these activities over the weeks leading up to Christmas, Yarcombe felt it was best to finish off by spreading their festive cheer for other people to enjoy.   They blessed the local pubs with their tuneful carol singing raising money for our chosen charity of the year ‘Yellow Wellies’.   After visiting; La Campagna, The Candlelight Inn, The York and The Sidmouth arms, we would like to send our thanks to the kind generous supporters from the night who donated money as we raised a total of £440.   Thank you to our local pubs that make us feel so welcome for their continued support and splendid hospitality.

Finally on the 30th of December over 75 members and friends of the club wrapped up warm for the windy weather at Taunton racecourse, putting money on horses and having a great time chatting and laughing.   It really is so nice to see so many of our Yarcombe club members, friends, family and local supporters come together over the Christmas period to enjoy each other's company.

Upcoming dates for your diaries:

27th January

Wine and Wisdom

7.30pm at Yarcombe village hall - Teams of 6, £8 per person - 2 free bottles of wine - No under 18s

To book a team contact Katie 079464 88881 or Ruby 07391 5292255

11th February

Drama Re-run at Axminster Guild hall.   Come to see how hard our members have been working on their drama performance.

25th February Tractor run.   Its great to have the local community join us in tractors or spectating.


October/November 2023:

The autumn and winter months are always busy for young farmers with social events, sports and attending meetings.   The new team of officers are confidently settling into their new roles and making lots of exciting plans and ideas for the group to enjoy, working together to involve all of our members.   Since our successful new members meeting we have had many of those who attended return to following meetings and sign up to be members of Yarcombe Young Farmers.   If you are interested in joining us please contact: Natalie 07775591324

On the 7th of October a small group of members took part in Ilminster carnival, collecting money to support the carnival and we were able to advertise ourselves by carrying our club banner.   Along with this 25% of what our great team collected will get sent back to us to go towards our donation to our chosen charity at the end of the YFC year.   Following our amazing donation to last years charity (Hospiscare) we took time at one of our meetings to discuss and decide a charity for this year.   After many considerations we have chosen ‘Yellow Wellies’ “an independent registered charity working throughout the UK to address the attitudes and behaviours to risk-taking and poor mental health in the next generation of farmers (under 40yrs).   We plan to organise many events with the proceeds of these going towards our final donation at the end of the year.   If you wish to find out more about this years chosen charity visit their website

Towards the end of October at our fortnightly Monday meeting, we enjoyed getting in the Halloween spirit with pumpkin carving and getting creative with floral arrangements in pumpkins.   Thanks to Sarah Broom floristry for your support.

 

Recently we have had a delivery of our blue club jumpers, keep your eye out for our us wearing them while out and about.   Here are a number of our member showing them off.

To finish off October; a mixed team of members played volleyball - well done to those who tried their best playing matches against other Devon groups.   Also a few representatives joined other East Devon group members at Exeter Cathedral to take part in the pillar decorating using, seasonal vegetables, floral displays and other harvest time items.   A great time was had by all and well done to the East Devon team for coming 3rd.

Finally, members dressed to impress when attending Crealy ball where everyone had a thoroughly great time in the large soft play area and on the dance floor.

Don't forget:
● Wine and wisdom at Yarcombe Village Hall on 25th November - to book a team contact Katie 07946488881 or Ruby 07391529225.

● Whist Drive at Yarcombe Village Hall on 12th January 2024 - to find out more contact Natalie 07775591324.


September 2023:

Wow what a successful year!   To finish this off we held our harvest supper on the 24th September at Barleymows farm shop (thankyou to the Burrough family for use of this space and all at Barleymows for hosting).   We had a good turnout of over 80 people who enjoyed the evening and helped celebrate some of our members achievements from over the year.   It was lovely to have so many friendly faces attend, especially our guest speaker Andy Barnes who kept everyone entertained with a well written speech.

Following on from our celebrations at harvest supper, we look back over the memories made over this year (2022/2023).   A message of appreciation goes to our dedicated and hard working officers and all who have supported us at our events throughout the year, the preparation and hard work has clearly paid off.   With a few of our biggest fundraising events being; UV barn disco, charity cream tea and auction of promises and summer water party.

On Monday 25th September we held an AGM where we proudly presented a cheque of all the money that we have raised this year for Hospiscare;  As a group Yarcombe and District YFC are so pleased to share that we raised a grand total of £15,492.02.

During our AGM we elected a great new team of officers, who are already making preparations towards events and plans for this upcoming year (2023/2024).

The new Young farmers year has certainly started on a high for us as we held our Yarcombe and District new members meeting on 9th October with an amazing 60 people attending. It was so good to see so many new faces get involved with different games, getting to know a little about each other and enjoying themselves during the night.

Well done to the team of 4 who took part in the Intermediates Brainstrust competition on 5th October, particularly to Izzy who was awarded the best female speaker.

We look forward to our upcoming events such as our Wine and Wisdom night on Saturday 25th November at Yarcombe village hall, please contact Katie on 07946 488881 if you would like to book a team (teams of 6 or less).


August 2023:

It has been nice to see the sunny weather make a return at the start of September.   The month of August into the start of September has seen the club meet to discuss upcoming events and enjoy many social activities attending various clubs discos in the local area at many of these events pulling TOW.

Several members from the club enjoyed a club social afternoon to Sheppys Cider in Taunton on Saturday 19th August.   They enjoyed learning how the cider is made exploring the orchards and seeing the process and of course sampling the great cider on offer!

On the 2nd September we had a club social bike ride where we cycled through the Blackdown Hills stopping at local pubs for a drink in the sun.   We started at the Flintlock car park, on to the Candlelight, then on to the York and then finally cycled to the Sidmouth arms.   A great afternoon was had by all who attended.

Upcoming we have our annual harvest supper on Sunday 24th September at Barlyemows farm shop 7pm for 7:30pm, to celebrate the year's achievements, followed by our AGM on Monday 25th September, where we are also hoping to present the cheque to Hospiscare for all the money raised the past year.   As the young farmers year is coming to an end for our officers, we have had a great year fundraising for charity, many social activities, involved in sports and competitions.    Keep an eye out for our new members meeting, anyone is welcome to join us ages 15-28 to be held on Monday 9th October at Yarcombe Village Hall 8pm – you don’t have to be a farmer to be a young farmer!   Great way to meet new friends and get involved in competitions and having fun.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542. We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village Hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson


June/July 2023:

The months of June & July have been particularly busy for the young farmers enjoying and working in the nice summer weather (at times).   As a club we have been busy with lots of fundraising and social activities as well as meeting up as a club to discuss our upcoming events.

In June we held a charity cream tea & auction of promises, which we raised a great £4905.29 for Hospiscare.   Thank you to everyone who was involved from members, businesses contributing to donations, Daisy's Dairy for supplying the milk.   A massive thank you to the Burrough family for hosting at Barleymows and to Andrew Luxton for kindly running the auction.

On the 7th July we helped Linda Wyatt at the Pimm’s picnic in a park event in Upottery all raising money for Hospisecare.   Members helped on the bar during the night and we raised a great amount

Club meetings: we have been discussing upcoming events and ideas.   We had a talk about farming in protected landscapes on the 10th July, which was very interesting organised by Sam Parris.   Also on the 24th July we held a meeting at Barnes getting ready for our water party stone picking for the tug of war and setting up the bar/shed.

We held our famous water party on Friday 28th July, this was very well attended and we took about £6000 of profits on the night.   Thank you to the Barnes family for allowing us to use the shed and all the help from members and parents on the night, it was a greatly successful night.   We also had several teams competing in tug of war at the event.

The club entered several club and individual entries, well done to everyone taking part in the annual Honiton show on Thursday 3rd August.   The club took home some very respectable prizes 3rd in men’s tug of war, 1st hamper, cubicle 5th, scarecrow 2nd, wheelbarrow 4th, item made out of upcycled pallets 2nd and scrapbook 2nd.

On the 5th August we helped at the show packing up this included the sheep pens, main ring and Harrison fencing thank you to all those that helped.

This weekend several members are looking forward to going to Sheppys for a cider tour on 19th August.   Upcoming we have a club bike ride social on the 2nd September.   Also our annual harvest supper 24th September, to celebrate the years achievements. Followed by our AGM on the 25th September.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542. We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village Hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson


May 2023:

Summer is finally here and it is nice to see the sunny weather, especially our farmers are enjoying it.   During May we have been busy meeting up as a club and organising our upcoming summer events and programme of social activities.

Members helped at Yarcombe village Coronation celebrations on Sunday 7th May.   This was a well-attended event in which we provided the bar and organised a tug of war competition.   The village raised around £700 and we raised around £250 for Hospiscare from the profit made on the bar.   Thank you to all members who attended and helped out on the day.

On the 10th May we helped Cathy Derryman and her family out for the NSA Sheep South West 2023.   Members helped with car parking duties and other things throughout the day to help it run smoothly.   Well done to Will who came 3rd in the Overall Shepherd of the Year, Adam who came 3rd in the Student Shepherd of the Year and Andrew who competed to a very high standard.

At the annual Devon county show this year members entered many classes and as a club. Our club cubicle came a respectable 11th place in a competition of 26 other entries.   We also entered a club photo and scrapbook.   Well done to Will, Peter, Oliver, Henry, Scott & Rob who participated in the tug of war competition at the show, it is great to see members getting involved.   Thank you to those who made up the tag rugby team also.   Lots of positive comments from those involved and potential to do even better in the future.   Members continue to practice every week for tug of our, where the team will take part at many discos and shows coming up.

Continuing to help fundraise for Hospicare we hope to raise lots of money at our charity cream tea and auction.   We are helping Linda Wyatt at her upcoming event Pimms, Picnic and Party at the Park with live music.   We are helping provide the bar and alcohol for the event, which is in aid of Hospicare.   With Hospicare we are also trying to organise a date to do FootGolf on the Exe.

Upcoming events for the diary – Sunday 18th June Charity cream tea and auction of promises, held by kind permission of the Burrough family at Barleymows farm shop, TA20 3PS, 2pm onwards, all welcome.   This is hoping to be a great event with lots of great prizes being auctioned, raising money for Hospicare, with a boozy barrow raffle and cream teas & cakes, have over 40 auction lots!   Our upcoming summer water disco is on Friday 28th July.   We are also hoping to organise a cider tour at Sheppys Cider and a raft race with Axminster YFC.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542.   We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village Hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson
 


April 2023:

March and April have been two busy months for members.   Getting stock ready for the show and sale and preparing for our UV themed disco.   Also continuing to participate in sports competitions, practicing for mens tug of war and continue to meet every fortnight for meetings to discuss upcoming events.   Also busy getting entries ready for the upcoming Devon County show in May.

On Wednesday 15th March a team of four members took part in the Crealy challenge.   This is a challenge where in teams race around the indoor play area to get the quickest time, competing against other teams in Devon.   Well done to our one Yarcombe team that entered who came 17th out of 67 teams.

Still been continuing to take part in sports competitions.   We have played Sid and Otter at pub sports and had a friendly hockey match against some east Devon clubs.   Tuesday 28th March, we played Culm Valley @ The Catherine Wheel, Hemyock.   We won both pool and darts.   Yarcombe got put through to play pool for east devon, but unfortunately, we didn’t attend as it was the same night as our spring disco.

On Friday 17th March at The York Inn we held our pub of the month. This was a very successful night with lots of people attending, the pub was packed. A massive thank you to Dan and all staff at the York Inn for hosting our pub of the month, and organising band.

On 2nd April Will took part in the east devon group of stock judging, he took his stock down and managed to get 4th in the sheep class.   At the meeting he encouraged members to get involved in stock judging competitions, as it is good experience.

We held our first disco of the year on Friday 14th April, by kind permission of the Hine family.   The night ran smoothly and we had around 350 attend, raising roughly £7285!   A great night was had by all in UV gear.

The annual Devon YFC show and sale took place on the 12th April 2023, held at Exeter Kivells market.   It was well attended by members competing, well done to all those who took part.   We had 11 entries for sheep and 2 for beef.   Well done to Wiktor and Kyle on coming first and second.   Also to Sharon Dyer for getting through to the final with her lambs.   Stock was all sold well, with sheep prices averaging £300.   As a result of a successful we had a show and sale meal at Sidmouth arms on Tuesday 25th April, to celebrate all those who had stock.

As a club we helped out at Yacrombe village coronation event on Sunday 7th May.   Members helped supply and help behind the bar, we raised £250 for charity.   We also did mens' tug of war competition against Honiton and Culm Valley young farmers.

Upcoming event for the diary – Sunday 18th June Charity cream tea and auction of promises, held by kind permission of the Burrough family at Barleymows farm shop, TA20 3PS, 2pm onwards, all welcome.   This is hoping to be a great event with lots of great prizes being auctioned, raising money for Hospicare.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542. We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village Hall 8pm start.

 


March 2023:

March has certainly not been a quiet month for the Young Farmers, continuing to have meetings in halls discussing upcoming events.

Wednesday 15th March. This is a challenge where in teams of 4 you need to race around the indoor play area.   Well done to our one Yarcombe team that entered who came 17th out of 67 teams.

Friday 17th March at The York Inn.   This was a very successful night with lots of people attending. A massive thank you to Dan and all staff at the York Inn for hosting our pub of the month.

Last week we played Sid and Otter at pub sports and had a friendly hockey match against some east Devon clubs.   Thank you to all who attended.

Tuesday 28th March, we played Culm Valley @ The Catherine Wheel, Hemyock.   We won both pool and darts.

At our last meeting we discussed an offer we have had from Barleymows on the Sunday 18th June 2023.   We have been offered the use of a marquee up at Barleymows for our charity do.   Thank you very much to the Burrough Family for letting us use your Marquee.    Members will be busy setting up and helping on the day.

With upcoming events we have on the Friday 14th April.   We are hosting a UV barn disco at the Hine’s.   We will be very busy setting up and getting the barn ready.   We also have on the 12th April 2023, show and sale.   Hope all the members are ready and good luck to all the members taking part.   This is held at Exeter livestock market.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542.   We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village Hall 8pm start.

Chloe webber

 


February 2023:

February has certainly not been a quiet month for the Young Farmers, continuing to have meetings in halls discussing upcoming events.   Also, members have been busy getting organised for the tractor run and other events.

On 31st January members played against Honiton YFC in pub sports taking part in pool, darts and skittles. We won the pool and the darts.   More games coming up against other clubs soon.

On Monday 27th February to begin our meeting we had members from Blackdown Farm Vets come to talk to us about ‘The changing role of the farm vet’.   This was a very informative talk, a massive thank you to them for attending.

We have received a thankyou letter from Yarcombe Church thanking our members for helping with the churchyard tidy up on Saturday 18th February.   Thank you to Dan and Rob for going to help out.   It is very much appreciated.

On Sunday 12th February we had our entertains re-run. A massive well done to all those who took part in the entertains re-run and the extra entertainment.   Thank you to everyone who helped out on the day serving tea and cakes etc.   We have raised £654.76 for our chosen charity, Hospiscare.

Sunday 26th February, we had our charity tractor run.   We started and finished at Stopgate by kind permission of the Barnes family.   Thank you to everyone that helped out on the day including Complete Meats for supplying the food, Buglers and Hamblys for supplying the Dynos. The event could not have run as smoothly without everyone’s help. Over 100 tractors attended.   We have raised around £3,159 for Hospiscare.   Which we are all very proud of, well done Yarcombe YFC.

We have our pub of the month coming up on Friday 17th march at the York inn.   Everyone is welcome and it will be great to see lots there.   There will also be a live music.   Yarcombe YFC have a UV barn disco coming up on Friday 14th April.

Some of our over 18 members have been to Weymouth for SWA.   Everyone that went the weekend had a great time.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542.   We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Chloe Webber
 


January 2023:

January has certainly not been a quiet month for the Young Farmers, continuing to have meetings in halls discussing upcoming events.   Also, members have been busy practicing a couple of times a week for our entertains “A Scarecrow Sees It All”.

On Friday 27th January we performed our entertains, competing against 4 other clubs in East Devon.   We came a very respectable 3rd.   A massive well done to the cast for putting on a fantastic performance and all their time and effort throughout the past few months.   A lot of hard work has gone into putting the performance together painting scenery, learning lines, and practicing dances.   Thank you especially to James Burrough and his team.   Well done to Fiona Laramy for getting best actress.

On Friday 13th January, Yarcombe organised a ‘whist drive’ at Uppottery.   We had a fantastic turnout of 79 people.    We raised £450 for our charity of the year.

The club has been busy with sports activities firstly on the 10th January we played Axminster at the York Inn.   We won skittles.   Then on 31st January members played against Honiton YFC in pub sports taking part in pool, darts and skittles.   We won the pool and the darts.   More games coming up against other clubs soon.

On Sunday 12th February we put on an afternoon of entertainment performing the re-run of our entertains “A Scarecrow Sees It All” followed by entertainment by our vice chairman.   This event was well supported by club members, parents and friends all coming to watch.

Due to a great turn out last year Yarcombe club have decided to do another charity tractor run which will be taking place on Sunday 26th February.   Also, all looking forward to South West Area weekend away.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542. We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Chloe Webber


The Entertains

 


November / December 2022:

The winter months are always busy for young farmers, enjoying Christmas festivities, getting involved with social, sports events and attending meetings.   We are also getting on well practicing for our entertains performance learning dance routines and lines and making and painting scenery, which is due to be performed on the 27th January at Exmouth, against other East Devon clubs.

November saw a bus full of members enjoy a night at Crealy ball on the 19th November, a fun evening was had by all.   On the 26th November, saw the return of our annual club wine & wisdom.   A good night was had by all and thank you to Cathy for doing her famous quiz.   £1805.45 made on the night, to go to towards our charity of the year.

Members have been busy taking part in sport competitions with a bowling social at Hollywood bowl on the 28th November, to choose the team for the county round which took place on the 15th December.   The team came 6th out of 14 teams. On the 29th November members took part in pub sports against Whimple, which unfortunately we lost the pool, skittles and darts.   Members have also taken part in mixed netball against other teams in East Devon on the 4th December, well done to those who took part.   We also enjoyed a skittles social night at the Sidmouth arms on the 19th December.

The month of December many members enjoyed attending festive activities including two balls.   A bus full of members enjoyed dressing up in their ball gowns and black-tie attire to attend Marshwood ball at Freshwater holiday park on the 3rd December.   Then Devon ball at Westpoint on the 17th December, celebrating the season in style.

Other festive activities to report included our club Christmas meal on the 9th December at the Sidmouth arms.   About 40 members attended a good night was had by all. Thank you to the Sidmouth Arms for a great meal.   The afternoon of the 11th December 16 members helped out the Hine family, with the annual turkey plucking.   A great afternoon/evening was had and turnout, thank you.

Tuesday 13th December 10 members enjoyed an evening making wreaths with Sarah Broom and supported by the Laura Persey trust.   Thank you to Sarah for teaching us, members had a great evening making festive wreaths.

Once again, members went charity carol singing to 3 pubs in the local area on Friday 16th December, where we were able to raise £280, for our chosen charity Hospicecare.    Then later in the Christmas to New Year period the club enjoyed a social day out to Taunton Races on the 30th December where some were luckier than others.

Coming up in the New Year we have our whist drive on the 13th January at Upottery hall, also our re-run of our entertains performance on the 12th February at Axminster guildhall and charity tractor run on the 26th February, more details to be announced soon.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542, or our Secretary Molly David on 07979899726.   We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.
 


October 2022:

October has been a very busy month for the young farmers, getting involved with social, sports events and attending meetings.   We have also started practicing for entertains learning dance routines.   Members took part in Devon hockey at the end of the month.   It is the start of the new young farmers years, with the team of officers settling into new roles and organising upcoming events.

On the 1st October a team of members cleaned up Upottery churchyard, trimming hedges and general churchyard tidy up.   Thank you to those who helped do a great job.

Members joined the rest of East Devon clubs, getting on a bus in Honiton high street for Devon’s mystery night out on Saturday 8th October.   Members had no idea where the bus would be taking them, which they ended up at Exeter racecourse for an evening of fun dancing and drinking with Paul Chuckle being the mystery DJ guest.

Congratulations to Izzy Pearse who took part in the Devon round of junior call my bluff, where her team came 2nd. She also was awarded on the night the best female junior speaker.

On the 21st October several members enjoyed an evening at East Devon’s dinner and dance

Two members went to the RD&E hospital on the 28th October to present a cheque to Clyst ward (the stroke ward), of the money raised over the past year as a club.   We presented a cheque of just over £3,600 to the nurses on the ward, who were very grateful for the money received.

At the end of the month 3 members went to Exeter cathedral to help decorate a pillar for the harvest festival service. The East Devon pillar came 1st.   Well done to those who helped decorate it.

Coming up members are looking forward to attending Crealy ball on the 19th November and our club wine & wisdom 26th November, Yarcombe hall and other balls and Christmas festivities.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our new Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542, or our new Secretary Molly David on 07979899726.   We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.


September 2022:

September marks the end of the Young Farmers year with officers finishing their time in roles.   We have had a busy year raising money for charity, enjoying going to balls & discos, taking part in speaking competitions and practising & performing our pantomime of Aladdin, as well as many other social activities as a club, continuing to meet regularly.

At the start of September members took part in speaking competitions.   The East Devon YFC round of Brainstrust competition took place on Tuesday 6th September at Awliscombe Hall - two teams entered an intermediate and senior team.   Well done to those who took part, the senior team came second with Peter Grabham being picked for the team to go through to Devon round as reserve.

Call my bluff competition was held on the 20th September, senior and intermediate teams.   Intermediate team coming 1st, with Izzy Pearse going through to the Devon round to represent in the East Devon team. Jack Tomlinson from the senior team, also being picked to go through to the Devon round.

We had a busy weekend the 24th September, thank you to Roger Patch for allowing us to use his shed all weekend.   A team of members helped get the shed ready for our foam disco, which was held on the Saturday evening, a successful fun night was had by all.   The next day on the Sunday 25th it was back to the shed in the morning to clear up and set up for our annual harvest supper, this year in a different style rather than being in a hall.   We had a buffet, celebrated the past year club’s achievements with a trophy presentation and celebrated our club leader Roger who has been committed to the club for 34 years, club leader for 12 of those years.   Thank you Roger for all your help and support, and all you have done for the club.

On the 26th September we held our AGM at Upottery village hall, where past officers were thanked for their help in the past year and new officers elected, a great attendance at the meeting.   A huge thank you goes out to our club leaders and advisory for all their continuous support.   During the meeting an election of new officers were welcomed in for the year ahead, wishing them a successful year.

If anyone would like to get involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join in our activities and get involved as a member, we have our new members' meeting on the 10th October at Yarcombe Village hall.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our new Chairman Will Vining on 07850605542, or our new Secretary Molly David on 07979899726.   We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary
 


August 2022:

At the start of August, we entered many club and individual entries into Honiton show in the young farmers tent, where we won some respectable prizes.   Well done to those who took part.

The rest of August has been very busy for young farmers as the weather has been very sunny.   We have met for club meetings in halls and the pub discussing upcoming events, including planning our harvest supper due to be held in September.   Also, our foam disco due to be held on the 24th September.

Two teams have been busy practising for speaking competitions coming up Brainstrust and call my bluff.   The East Devon YFC round of Brainstrust competition took place on Tuesday 6th September at Awliscombe hall two teams entered an intermediate and senior team. Well done to those who took part the senior team came second with Peter Grabham being picked for the team to go through to Devon round as reserve.

The end of our YFC year is fast approaching, our AGM is due to be held on the 26th September.   It certainly has been an action-packed year getting back to normal after COVID enjoying socialising with friends again at balls and discos and joining in competitions and events.   Well done to our officers for making it a fantastic year.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week on Mondays in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


July 2022:

The lovely sunny weather of July has seen the Young Farmers appreciate the long summers evening.   Staring the month with all enjoying a social night at Seaton Beach on Monday 4th July, where we had a BBQ and played a game of rounders on the beach.   We have met for other club meetings in halls and the pub discussing upcoming events, including planning our foam disco.

On Sunday 24th July 14 members helped at Honiton show, where we set up the main ring and sheep pens.   Thank you to all those who helped, a good time was had.

Members have been busy getting entries ready for Honiton show, lots of various classes to enter for all, for a nice local show, which was held on Thursday 4th August.   Well done to Eleanor Gibson and team for helping to get all the club entries ready.   Our club cubicle care 3rd, Scrapbook came 2nd, Club Banner came 1st, Scarecrow came 1st, hamper came 1st, club promotion board came 4th, repurposed tyre came 2nd and many other club entries entered that did well.   Well done to many members who entered individual entries, who got some respectable prizes. Congratulations to our member Izzy Pearse who won the overall best photography.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week on Mondays in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


June 2022:

As the summer months have begun, the young farmers calendar is getting busier.   Our latest club meeting we just held at Seaton beach, with members enjoying a BBQ and games on a nice summer's evening.   We have also been busy getting our club entries ready for Devon county show.

At the start of June Yarcombe YFC boys played football against Combe St Nicholas football team on the 3rd June, as part of the Combe St Nicholas jubilee celebrations.   A good game was had and great to see members spectate.   Well done to the boys for winning a close game, 3-3 with the YFC boys winning the penalties.

On the 25th June several members enjoyed a club social cycle ride, which started at the flintlock pub, cycling to the Candlelight, then onto the York and finishing at the Sidmouth Arms.   A fun afternoon was had by all.

The evening of the 25th June several members attended the 90th anniversary Devon YFC ball, in Exeter. A great evening dancing & drinking the night away.

At the end of the month, we entered club entries into the Devon county show.   Well done to those for helping get the entries ready over the past month.   Our club scrapbook came 5th and our club cubicle came 11th.   Also well done to Thomas Gilmartin for winning the best pen of sheep in the YFC livestock class.

Members are busy getting ready for various events, with Honiton show soon upon us, setting up and entering for a nice local show.   Other events to include a foam disco and sports competitions to have fun and participate in.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week on Mondays in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start. 

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


May 2022:

In May we have been continually meeting as a club to discuss upcoming events.   Also, we have been busy stating to get our show entries ready for Devon County show.

At the start of the month 2 members took part in the East Devon stock judging day on Sunday 1st May.   Well done to Dan Olive and Henry Pearse for participating, both achieving overall 4th in junior and senior stock judging. Yarcombe coming overall 2nd with the most club points.

As a social night we had a club BBQ & rounders evening on Monday 2nd May, at our chairman’s farm.   A good fun evening was had all together.

Coming up we are planning summer events including a bike ride, disco, and other social events.   Also playing football against Combe St Nicholas football team.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week on Mondays in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary
 


April 2022:

April has been a busy month socially for the club and continuing to meet for club meetings in village halls.   Also participating in pub sports which we played against Honiton Young farmers on 5th April, but we unfortunately lost.

We started the month off with our well attended Wellies and Work Wear themed disco on Friday 8th April, by kind permission of the Perry family hosted in a shed.   A good night was had by all who attended drinking and dancing the night away, raising a fantastic £5000 profit for our charity of the year.

On Monday 11th April as a club social, 17 members went go-karting at Exeter race world, a fun evening was had by all who attended.

Our next social activity was our turn to host Pub of the month, where different clubs from East Devon take it in turn to host.   Many thanks to Martin Phillips at the Sidmouth Arms, for allowing us to host our pub of the month here on Friday 22nd April.   It was a well attended evening, young farmers were able to enjoy live music.

On Sunday 24th April, we held an on-farm show & sale, where three top notch ‘beef out of dairy’ cattle (around 16/17 months old) were judged. Due to our members being unable to move their stock to the Devon YFC show & sale at Exeter Market, we wanted to do something on farm so members hard work could still be recognised.   Well done to Lisa Johnson who came first, Henry Pearse who came second and Vicky Pearse who came third.   Thank you to our judge Martyn Boucher, for judging the cattle.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week on Mondays in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


March 2022:

March has been another busy month for Yarcombe Young Farmers, continuing to have meetings in halls discussing upcoming events for members to get involved with and having fun with friends joining in with club events.

The first weekend in March saw about 40 members go to Weston Super-Mare for the annual South West Area, where clubs from all around the south west joined.   Members enjoyed going to a ball on the Friday night, Saturday going around Weston to the various bars and clubs.   On the Saturday evening, members went to an emergency services themed disco with radio 1 DJ Chris Stark.   Then on the Sunday members headed home, some with more sore heads than others.   A good weekend was had by all and it was great to be back socialising with other clubs after the event not happening last year.

Eighty members on Saturday 19th March went to the postponed from Christmas Devon YFC Paddy’s ball at Westpoint, Exeter.   A good night was had by all getting glammed up in ball gowns and suits and dancing the night away with friends.

Upcoming we have our Wellies and Work Wear themed disco on Friday 8th April and club go-karting social on the 11th April, as well as other club events.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week on Mondays in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


February 2022:

      

February has been another busy month for Yarcombe Young Farmers, continuing to have meetings in halls discussing upcoming events and joining in with club events.   The start of the month kicked off with us on Sunday 6th February, we put on an afternoon of fun entertainment performing the re-run of our pantomime Aladdin, followed by entertainment by our vice chairman.   This event was well supported by club members, parents and friends all coming to watch, thank you to those who helped support us.   We raised just over £1200 for our charity of the year Exeter Foundation NHS Trust.   To celebrate our great achievement and all the hard work the past couple of months the cast of Aladdin and directors had a meal together on the 17th February at the Sidmouth Arms, where we watched back our performance.   A good evening was had by all, and it was great to be together reminiscing our fun we had over the months.

The club has been busy with sports activities, firstly on the 15th February members played against Culm Valley YFC in pub sports taking part in pool, darts and skittles.   We won the skittles and darts, but lost pool.   On the 22nd February we competed in another pub sports against Whimple YFC, we won the skittles but lost darts and pool.   Members participated in the East Devon group round of mixed netball on the 27th February, where we came 3rd out of the 5 clubs competing.

Our Charity Tractor run took place on Sunday 20th February started at Stopgate farm and finished at Barleymows farm shop, where hot food was provided.   Thank you to Rose Burrough and her team for providing the food and somewhere to finish.   Also thank you to the Barnes family for us to gather at the start.   105 tractors took part in the run and people where able to test out their tractors on the Dyno, which was kindly supplied by Hambly’s.   It was a fun day out with a great route and had great support of people watching on the sides of the roads, coming out to support in the rain and wind.   An amazing £2000, was raised for our charity of the year Exeter hospital.

Recently we presented cheques for the money we raised in the years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 to the FCN on the 21st February at our club meeting.   The FCN (Farming Community network) gave a short talk about how the money we raised will help their charity and the work they do.   On the 1st March Natalie, Laura & Dan (previous secretaries and chairman), went to the Mardon Neurological Rehabilitation Centre in Exeter to present the cheque.   It was great to hear and see how the money raised will help them.   Each charity was presented with cheques of £3868.73.

Coming up we are all looking forward to South West Area weekend away in Weston Super-Mare on the 4th, 5th & 6th March and the Devon YFC ball on the 19th March.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week on Mondays in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary
 


January 2022:

January has certainly not been a quiet month for the Young Farmers, continuing to have meetings in halls discussing upcoming events.   Also, members have been busy practicing a couple of times a week for our pantomime performance of Aladdin.

On Friday 28th January we performed our pantomime Aladdin, competing against 2 other clubs in East Devon.   We came a very respectable 2nd, but we would have come 1st if we didn’t incur a 4 minute time fault (for going over 1 hour of performance time).   A massive well done to the cast for putting on a fantastic performance and all their time and effort throughout the past few months.   A lot of hard work has gone into putting the performance together painting scenery, learning lines, and practicing dances.   Thank you especially to James Burrough and his team.   We won best moment throughout the whole weekend for our final dance.  Also, during this weekend one of our members Natalie Sampson, competed in East Devon YFC Senior member of the year speaking competition, well done for taking part.

The club has been busy with sports activities firstly on the 20th January members played against Axminster YFC in pub sports taking part in pool, darts and skittles.   We won the pool.   More games coming up against other clubs.

Well done to the girls East Devon hockey team who played at the Devon round and came first, going through to the SWA round.   A special well done to Izzy Pearse who was part of the team, competing on the 23rd January.

On Sunday 6th February we put on an afternoon of entertainment performing the re-run of our pantomime Aladdin, followed by entertainment by our vice chairman.   This event was well supported by club members, parents and friends all coming to watch.   We raised just over £1200 for our charity of the year Exeter Foundation NHS Trust.   Thank you to all those who came to support, a fun afternoon was had by all and to see the great performance of Aladdin.

At our club meetings we are busy planning our upcoming charity tractor run which is going to be held on Sunday 20th February.   Also, all looking forward to South West Area weekend away and Devon YFC ball in March.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447. We have our club meetings every other week on Mondays in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


November/December 2021:

The past couple of months have been very busy for the Young Farmers calendar with members attending many events in the lead up to Christmas.   We have had many meetings in village halls discussing events coming up.

November started off with continuing to practice weekly for our pantomime which is due to be performed at Exmouth Pavilions, on 28th January.   We hope to do our re-run of the pantomime in February date TBC.   On 13th November 54 members attended Somerset ball at Sedgemoor market, a great night was had by all.   The following weekend members attended the re-scheduled Crealy ball, where again a great night was enjoyed by all.   At the end of November we were able to hold a successful wine and wisdom in Yarcombe Village Hall, which was well attended.   We raised £275 money for our charity of the year which is the Royal Devon & Exeter Foundation trust, close to many members hearts (the amazing work the NHS is doing).

The month of December many members enjoyed attending festive activities, these included a club social night ice skating in Exeter, a club skittles night at the Sidmouth Arms and helping the Hines plucking turkeys.   We even managed to participate in club sports competing in mixed Hockey against other clubs in East Devon, where we came 2nd.   Members also competed in Netball against other clubs in East Devon, we came a respective 3rd.   Other festive activities to report included Sarah Broom Floral Design kindly hosting a socially distanced wreath making workshop for a small group of our members.   Thank you to Sarah for her time, our members thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and made some wonderful wreaths.   On 17th December a group of members went carol singing to many pubs in the local area.   We raised £254 for our charity of the year.   Many members enjoyed dressing up in their ball gowns and black-tie attire to attend Marshwood ball on the 11th December in the run up to Christmas, celebrating the season in style.   Unfortunately, the very popular Devon Christmas Ball which members had been looking forward to attending, was due to take place on the 18th December, this has been postponed to a later date due in 2022.   Then later in the Christmas to New Year period the club enjoyed a social day out to Taunton Races on the 30th December where some were luckier than others.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


October 2021:

October has certainly been a very busy month for young farmers.   The start of the month we had our new officers meeting, thanking the past years officers and welcoming in the new officers for the year.   We have had several meetings in village halls, discussing upcoming events.

Competitions have started back again, two teams from the club participated in the Brainstrust speaking competition on the 7th of October.   An intermediate and senior team was entered, well done to the Senior team who came 4th and the intermediate team coming 6th.   Some members participating in their first speaking competition. Will Vining, Moly David and Adam Burrough went onto the county round on the 29th October to represent in the East Devon team, coming first, congratulations.

We held our new members meeting on the 18th October at Yarcombe village hall where 55 people turned up.   It was fantastic to see a busy hall again for a meeting and getting back to normal times and young farmers doing what they do best.   A great evening was had by all meeting new members, learning about young farmers, and having fun playing games, a lot of laughs was had by all.

Sports competitions have started back again.   On the 26th October the club took two teams to the county ten-pin bowling competition, at Exeter.   A fun and competitive evening was had by all and well done to those who took part.   Also, on the 7th November two teams played sports girls team playing netball and boys team playing football, well done to all those who took part.

The next couple of months are looking to be busy months again, we are busy practising for pantomime, several balls coming up and other social events and competitions to all get involved with as a club.

If anyone would like to get involved in Yarcombe Young Farmers, we would love you to join in our activities and become a member.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


September 2021:

September always marks the end of the Young Farmers year with officers finishing their time in their roles.   The year started off quietly and has ended being very busy organising and attending a lot of social events.   It is a very exciting time for young farmers, as restrictions have lifted and we are now able to meet in person in village halls for meetings as opposed to meetings online zoom, battling with everyone’s dodgy internet signals.

Luckily this year we were able to hold our club’s Harvest Supper on the 26th September at Yarcombe hall.   This was an evening to celebrate the club’s and members' past years achievements.   It was great to see past and current members and parents attend.   A great evening was had with a lovely meal, talk from our guest speaker John Bird and trophies awarded to members for the year.

Ball season has finally started back again much to member’s delight.   55 members went on a coach to attend Devon YFC ball at Exeter racecourse on the 2nd October.   We had a wonderful evening drinking and dancing the night away.   It was great to be socialising with friends again and getting in our dresses and suits, which some may have had to be dusted off.

On the 4th October we held our club's AGM, which was great to see a hall full of members keen to sign up to roles.   Differently to our AGM last year held on zoom.   A massive thank you to our Chairman Dan, Secretary Natalie, Treasurer Jack and Social Secretary Ella for all their superb hard work and the rest of the YFC officers.   Also, a huge thank you goes out to our club leaders and advisory for all their continuous support.   During the meeting an election of new officers were welcomed in for the year ahead, wishing them a successful year. If anyone would like to get involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join in our activities and get involved as a member, we have our new members' meeting on the 18th October at Yarcombe hall, 8pm.

If anyone has any further questions and would like to become involved with Young Farmers, please contact our new Chairman Jack Tomlinson on 07712 479384, or our new Secretary Emily Dunster on 07368 654447.   We have our club meetings every other week in either Yarcombe or Upottery Village hall 8pm start.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


August 2021:

August has been a very busy month with getting back into young farmers activities.   It has been great to see members having fun and socialising with friends again.

At the start of the month we played rounders & had a BBQ night against Axminster YFC on the 3rd August, 9 members played.   A good time was had by all and it was nice to be socialising with other clubs again.

Honiton show was held 5th & 6th August, where members entered various club classes.   It was fantastic to see a brilliant display of entries showcasing members talents.   Well done to all those who helped with entries and setting up (including members parents).   We did very good with our entries gaining 2 firsts, 1 second, 4 thirds and 3 fourths, all competing against 5 other clubs in East Devon YFC.   Classes included club promotion board, club cubicle, hamper of British produce and many other various entries.   A few members then went to the Honiton show after disco held by Honiton young farmers in the showground members marquee on the Friday night.

We held a club meeting on the 9th August at Yarcombe village hall and a meeting at the Sidmouth Arms on the 23rd August.   These meetings where both well attended seeing some new faces, and lots of things discussed including the busy social events that are going on and being planned.

We finished the month off with the most enjoyable day, a raft race from Whitford bridge to Colyford.   Yarcombe YFC held the race on bank holiday Monday 30th August with 3 teams entered.   Well done to the team of 6 girls who completed the race in the quickest time and winning the best fancy dress element.   A good afternoon was had by all, and it was lovely to see families out watching the race.

Further club meetings are in the pipeline, and we will look to be discussing and arranging more social events.

If anyone would like to become involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join our club and encourage you to contact our Chairman or Secretary for more information.   If anyone has any further questions, please contact our Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or our Secretary Natalie Sampson on 07775591324.

We hope you all stay safe and well.

Natalie Sampson, Secretary


July 2021:

As the summer months have begun, the young farmers calendar is getting busier, as restrictions are lifting and we are learning what YFC clubs are allowed to do.   Many clubs are planning discos for us to attend and other social activities interacting and getting back to having fun with our friends.

As June approached, competitions such as the East Devon Stockjudging were underway.   Yarcombe YFC were placed third in terms of the club with the most overall points.   We are very proud of our member, Henry Pearse, who participated and did very well in the competition.   Henry was placed first in the Dairy Linear and was awarded fourth place in Dairy, along with being awarded fourth place for the overall Junior Stockjudging competition.

The boys played against Honiton Young Farmers at Combe football club Monday 28th June.   We won 3-2.   Good time was had by all, well done to those who played the friendly match.

July has played a big part of getting back into the normal YFC activities.   At the beginning of July, we had a club rounders & BBQ evening, which was good fun playing rounders as the sun was going down.   We have also had our first club meeting back in a village hall, as opposed to being on zoom or in farm sheds in the past.   We had 16 members attend our meeting at Upottery village hall on the 26th July. It was great being back in a hall and being able to meet in person to discuss future activities we all want to do.   Also discussed were upcoming events including disco’s, Honiton show, sports events and many more activities.

On the 30th July we held our first disco of the year.   Our disco was held by kind permission of the Burrough family in a shed.   It was a great success and everyone had a great night dancing and drinking the night away with friends from across the county.   There was a terrific turnout for the club and a decent profit was made towards our charities.   Thank you to members of the advisory and members of the club for helping on the bar and door.

Six members helped set up for the annual Honiton show on Sunday 1st August, where we spent the morning putting up sheep hurdles.   Thank you to those who helped out, despite getting muddy and wet.   A few other members on the same day took part at the Devon YFC field day at Bicton, representing East Devon group in sports such as netball.

At the Honiton on the 5th & 6th August, members entered various club classes.   It was fantastic to see a brilliant display of entries showcasing members talents.   Well done to all those who helped with entries and setting up (including members parents).   We did very good with our entries gaining 2 firsts, 1 second, 4 thirds and 3 fourths, all competing against 5 other clubs in East Devon YFC.   Classes included club promotion board, club cubicle, hamper of British produce and many other various entries.

Further club meetings are in the pipeline, and we will look to be discussing and arranging more social events.   If anyone would like to become involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join our club and encourage you to contact our Chairman or Secretary for more information.   If anyone has any further questions, please contact our Chairman Dan Olive on 07811-744714, or our Secretary Natalie Sampson on 0777-5591324.

We hope you all stay safe and well.

Natalie Sampson, Secretary


May/June 2021:

Both May and June were busier in the YFC calendar, as guidelines and restrictions surrounding Covid-19 begun to ease in respect of what clubs/organisations, such as YFC, were permitted to do.   At the beginning of May on the bank holiday, the club held a group bike ride, which started at the Sidmouth Arms in Upottery and ended at the York Inn in Churchinford.   Well done to those who came along, it was a very enjoyable day.   We also held an outside social BBQ on the 19th May, thank you to our Club Leader, Roger Patch, for kindly allowing the event to take place.

As June approached, competitions such as the East Devon Stockjudging were underway.   Yarcombe YFC were placed third in terms of the club with the most overall points.   We are very proud of our member, Henry Pearse, who participated and did very well in the competition.   Henry was placed first in the Dairy Linear and was awarded fourth place in Dairy, along with being awarded fourth place for the overall Junior Stockjudging competition.   Preparations for the Devon County Show also begun, in terms of both club and individual entries.   Thank you to those members who took the time to enter individual classes at Devon County Show.

As the restrictions started to ease surrounding weddings, we also had a couple of YFC members tie the knot!   Congratulations and best wishes to Becca & Adam Pulman on their special day back at the end of April and also Dean & Claire Parris, who recently married in June.

It is a particularly exciting and encouraging time, with prospective club events in the very near future.   Club meetings are able to be held in person, as opposed to ZOOM, and it has been wonderful to be reunited with our friends and members at long last.   Further club meetings are in the pipeline and we will look to be discussing and arranging summer social events very soon - we look forward to being able to share details with you all, when we can.

As always, we encourage all members to stay actively involved and connected with Young Farmers.   If anyone would like to become involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join our club and encourage you to contact our Chairman or Secretary for more information.   If anyone has any further questions please contact our Chairman Dan Olive on 07811-744714, or our Secretary Natalie Sampson on 07775-591324.   We hope you all stay safe and well.

Katie Trevelyan, Press Secretary


April 2021:

It was very pleasing and encouraging to see that April was a busier month for the club in terms of socially distanced activities around Covid-19.   We now find ourselves in May already, and the Young Farmers calendar and potential future activities look to be even more promising.

We held our Easter charity duck race on Sunday 11th April, which was a huge success.   We are ever so grateful to those who kindly donated prizes for the event.   Thank you also to those who purchased ducks, helping us to raise a fantastic £1,370 which will be split between our two chosen charities; The Farming Community Network and Mardon Neurological Rehabilitation Centre, Exeter.

On the 18th April, we held an on-farm Show & Sale of Ewes and Lambs, with Ray Burrough kindly judging the sale.   In fourth place, we had Tom Olive with 5 ewes and 8 lambs and in third place we had Sarah Broom with 5 ewes and 9 lambs.   In second place, we had Steven Salter with 5 ewes and 7 lambs and finally, in first place, we had Dan Olive with a great 5 ewes and 8 lambs.   Dan Olive also took ‘overall best presented’ from the day, so a huge well done to Dan.   Well done also to Jasmin Wickham and Sam Olive who participated on the day.   And a big thank you to Beth Johnson for arranging and organising the sale to take place.

As the restrictions continue to ease and normality appears to be that little bit closer, we will shortly be making plans to hold a club officer meeting, to discuss and start planning our upcoming summer social events (adhering to covid restrictions).   We hope to be able to share with you details of our events in the near future.

We encourage all members to stay actively involved and connected with Young Farmers.   If anyone would like to become involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join our club and encourage you to contact our Chairman or Secretary for more information.   If anyone has any further questions please contact our Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or our Secretary Natalie Sampson on 07775591324.

Once again, may we express our appreciation to all key workers, be it farming, NHS, health-care (to name a few) for seeing us all through this past year.   We hope you all stay safe and well.

Katie Trevelyan, Press Secretary


March 2021:

As the lockdown restrictions are easing the months are passing very quickly and we seem to be flying through the Young Farmer’s calendar.   March has been a busy month learning about the exciting new restrictions young farmers are going to be able to do.  As a youth organisation, we are fortunate to be able to have members' meetings outside now and we are able to resume sports activities in small groups against other clubs.   As you can tell we are incredibly lucky to have this, and we are planning ways to meet up safely and ensure social distancing is maintained with activities.

We continue to host our regular club meetings via Zoom, where a lot of discussion has been had about the exciting coming summer months in the future Young Farmers calendar.   This certainly appears to be more promising and brighter for all.   We are very much all looking forward to the brighter months ahead and being able to fundraise as much as we can for our charities of the year, as well as having fun and catching up with much missed time together as a club with friends.

As the restrictions do start to ease and normality appears to be in sight, we hope to be able to share with you details of our events in the near future.   I’m sure many members are looking forward to being able to meet up with one another and plan activities outdoors rather than on zoom.  

On Saturday 3rd April 6 members participated in hockey at Axminster sports grounds, this being our first sports activity of the year.   Well done to those who all took part and came 3rd.

As I am writing this report, we are busy preparing for our charity duck race, which is going to be held on Sunday 11th April and will be live streamed on our facebook page.   We have a fantastic array of prizes to be won and most have been kindly donated.   Please look out in next month’s report to see how we got on.

We also have the annual Young Farmers show & sale coming up on the 14th April online, a report on how members stock got on will be in next months report.

If anyone would like to become involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join our club and encourage you to contact our Chairman or Secretary for more information. If anyone has any further questions, please contact our Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or our Secretary Natalie Sampson on 07775591324.

We hope you all stay safe and well.

Natalie Sampson, Secretary


January 2021:

January has always been one of the quieter months in the young farmers calendar, this year especially has been even more so for everyone in lockdown.   As a club we have still actively managed to find ways to keep our winter evenings busy by adapting and embracing the 21st century technology!   This past month, we held an online club zoom meeting on Monday 18th January, which members attended discussing what we have been doing as a club so far in the YFC year and any possible ideas for the year ahead.   Also, within the meeting we had our cup presentation from Roger Patch who kindly presented trophies to those who had won them in the previous year, a very well done to all those members who won a cup.   This of course was a very different style of presenting the cups than what we have done in previous years traditionally presented at our Harvest supper.   We will make arrangements to distribute the cups to our winning members when we are out of lockdown and it is safe to do so.

Zoom video calls seem to play another key part in January, being the platform where two of our members took part in the senior member of the year speaking competition, competing against other clubs within East Devon.   A very well done to Laura Dare who came 3rd and to Dan Olive our chairman who came 4th in the overall competition.

Many of our members are still continuing to work from home and our farming members and members who work within the NHS have never stopped working.   May we take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to the NHS and key workers for seeing us all through this pandemic; treating patients and feeding the nation amid the coronavirus crisis in lockdown.

As always, we encourage all members to stay involved and connected with Young Farmers, now more than ever.   We will be continuing to host a variety of activities throughout the coming months and will very much keep our members busy!   If anyone would like to get involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join in our activities and encourage you to contact our Chairman or Secretary for more information.   We will keep you updated with any dates of events or fundraisers in the near future.   In the meantime, we hope you stay safe and well.   If anyone has any further questions please contact our Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or our Secretary Natalie Sampson on 07775591324.

Katie Trevelyan, Press Secretary
 


December 2020:

 

Our new YFC year commenced in September 2020, very differently to what we had all envisaged and hoped for. This new year however welcomed a few of our existing members into new roles; Natalie Sampson our new Club Secretary, Ella Wittridge our Social Representative, Jack Retter our Treasurer and with Dan Olive our Club Chairman agreeing to stay on another year in his role. A huge thank you to the above members for their support, time, and dedication with their roles. It is also important that we extend our huge gratitude to our members, club leaders and advisory for their continuous support to the club during what has been and what will continue to be an unusual and uncertain challenging time.

Due to Coronavirus, the start of our YFC year has unfortunately seen most of our planned events postponed and sadly continues to be the case for the start of 2021 with recent Government announcements. The last quarter of 2020 would have played host to many of our seasonal social events such as our annual Halloween disco, to our festive events such as Christmas discos & balls, a club Christmas meal and also our charity fundraisers such as Christmas bingo and carol singing.

However, on a positive, our members are now quite the Pro’s with online technology and Zoom (even with being faced with classic countryside internet connection!) and therefore we continue to stay in contact with one another by hosting regular activities and challenges remotely to keep the YFC enthusiasm and club spirit alive. In the November lockdown we filled most of our Saturday nights from the comfort of our own sofas, these included: We have had an indoor online scavenger hunts where members are given a series of riddles to solve and the challenge of finding the said object in their homes. We have also had a club bingo on zoom where 9 families all joined in, thank you to Roy Sampson for doing the calling. Also, in November Cathy Derryman kindly organised a quiz night, which 8 families joined in. This was a bit different to our normal annual wine & wisdoms, no mess to clear up apart from your own food & alcoholic beverages! It really is fantastic to see as many members and their families taking part in these. Members have also participated in various competitions through social media and Devon/County YFC, such as photo entries for the best Christmas cake decoration and decorated Christmas tree to name an example.

Our club also held a Christmas Charity Raffle, with an impressive amount of £910 worth of tickets being sold to the local community. Thank you so very much to those who supported our raffle and to those who kindly donated raffle prizes and of course to both Dan and Jack who arranged for the prizes to be delivered to the winners, socially distanced of course! The proceeds from this fundraiser will be split equally between our chosen charities which are The Farming Community Network and Mardon House (Neurological Rehabilitation) based in Exeter. Other festive activities to report included Sarah Broom Floral Design kindly hosting a socially distanced wreath making workshop for a small group of our members. Thank you to Sarah for her time, our members thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and made some wonderful wreaths.

Many of our members are still continuing to work from home and our farming members and members who work within the NHS have never stopped working. May we take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to the NHS and key workers for seeing us all through this pandemic; treating patients and feeding the nation amid the coronavirus crisis.

As always, we encourage all members to stay involved and connected with Young Farmers, now more than ever. We will be continuing to host a variety of activities throughout the coming weeks and will very much keep the members busy! If anyone would like to get involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join in our activities and encourage you to contact our Chairman or Secretary for more information. We will keep you updated with any dates of events or fundraisers in the near future. In the meantime, we send our best wishes to you all and we hope you stay safe and well!

If anyone has any further questions please contact our  Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or our Secretary Natalie Sampson on 07775591324.

Katie Trevelyan, Press Secretary


November 2020:

                                         

October has been a busy month for Yarcombe Young Farmers, starting with our new officers settling into their roles and organising a few activities.   Thank you to last year's team and we wish the new officers every success in the year ahead.

On Monday 19th October we entered two teams for the East Devon round of Call my Bluff speaking competition, which was held at Broadhembury village hall in a Covid-safe way.  The senior team came 7th, thank you to Molly David, Jack Retter and Jack Tomlinson for participating.  The intermediate team came 3rd, well done to Vicky Pearse, Henry Pearse & Lisa Johnson for participating in their first Young Farmers speaking competition.

Next on the agenda we carried out our community project on Sunday 25th October at Yarcombe village hall, tidying the area outside around the hall.   Around 6 members turned out to trim the hedges, tidying the car park and strimming the grass banks.   A productive morning was had by all.   Our hard work was thanked by Helen Parris, she appreciated that members sacrificed part of their weekend to assist with the annual tidying task and said how tidy the work done looks.

The evening of Monday 26th October saw 22 members go to Greendale in Exeter for a fun night indoor Go Karting.   As a club we were lucky enough to have this number of members attend due to the Covid-safe rules by the Go Karting venue.   Well done to Bobby Barnes coming 1st, Richie Barnes coming 2nd and Scott Burrough coming 3rd.

We encourage all members to stay involved and connected with Young Farmers.   If anyone would like to get involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join in our activities and still have a few officer vacancies.   We will keep you updated with any dates of events in the near future and plan to try to organise some activities online.   In the meantime, stay safe in this next lockdown!

If anyone has any further questions please contact our Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or our Secretary Natalie Sampson on 07775591324
 


October 2020:

The end of YFC year normally finishes in September, but we can all say that this finished a lot earlier in the year than we had hoped and planned for!   Due to Coronavirus, putting on hold and cancelling most of our planned events, cutting it short in the middle of March.   The spring and summer months would have played host to many barn discos, weddings, balls, local agricultural shows and various other events to raise money for our charities and have fun with our friends.

September would have played host to our annual harvest supper, with cup presentations and thanking our outgoing officers for all their hard work during the past year.   A great way to celebrate and round off the Young Farmers year, but unfortunately, this was unable to take place due to coronavirus social distancing.
  Recently on the 28th September we held our Annual General Meeting over zoom online, a bit different to normal AGMs, having to deal with dodgy countryside internet signals.   We thanked our outgoing officers for a brilliant year, especially a great action packed 6 months before coronavirus.  A massive thank you to our Chairman Daniel, Secretary Laura, Treasurer Louise and Social Secretary Kate for all their superb hard work and the rest of the YFC officers.   Our chairman Dan Olive, has kindly offered to stay on another year in his role, thank you.   Also, a huge thank you goes out to our club leaders and advisory for all their continuous support.   During the meeting an election of new officers were welcomed in for the year ahead, wishing them a successful year in these uncertain challenging times ahead.   We encourage all members to stay involved and connected with Young Farmers.   If anyone would like to get involved in Young Farmers, we would love you to join in our activities and still have a few officer vacancies.   We will keep you updated with any dates of events in the near future.   In the meantime, stay safe!

If anyone has any further questions please contact our existing and new Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or our new Secretary Natalie Sampson on 07775591324

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


August 2020:     Back out of lockdown report.

The last Young Farmers' event was at the start of March 6-8th, where several members went to Newquay for the annual South West Area.   This event was joined by other Young Farmers clubs across the South West.   A great time was had by all, but little did we all know this would be the last big event we would all go to for a long while (some may have wished they drank more and spent more time away from home)!

An event which a coach load of members had been looking forward to going to, at the end of March, was the yearly Whimple and District YFC ball at Crealy adventure park.   This unfortunately had to be cancelled, due to the coronavirus outbreak.   Also, amongst many other events our club and other YFC clubs would have organised was unable to go ahead including: barn, foam and water disco parties, dyno day, and many other events to raise money for our charities.

As a club we have found many ways to keep busy and all stay in contact together and have fun via 21st Century technology.   We had an online scavenger hunt with club members looking for various items matching a riddle in their own homes.   Members have also done various baking competitions and selfie challenges through social media, as well as keeping our farms going.   We took part in a YFC ‘loo roll challenge’ where members videoed themselves throwing and catching a loo roll in various ways, locations and outfits, I’m sure most of you have seen what a laugh it is.

In April members with YFC stock were due to participate in the Devon YFC show and sale at Exeter Livestock Centre.   This was moved to being an online virtual show and sale on Wednesday 29th April, where members sent in pictures of their stock competing against other clubs in Devon, well done to all members who took part.   A particular well done to our chairman Dan Olive coming 4th for his pigs and member Kate Burrough coming 4th for Beef.

The summer months would have taken host to two annual shows which we get involved, these include the Devon County Show and Honiton Show.   Both of these unfortunately were cancelled.   The Devon County YFC moved the show to online where a few members took part in various classes including: scarecrow making, best lockdown snap, a face mask, lockdown project, a showstopper cake, and many other classes to get involved in.

Our lives are slowly getting back to normal with pubs opening and being able to meet in small groups with our friend’s ‘bubble’!   Meetings are still being held over Zoom.   Many members are still working from home on computers looking out into the countryside, rather than a company office and our farmers & NHS workers have never stopped working.   A massive thank you to the NHS staff for keeping our hospitals going and treating patients in the coronavirus pandemic.   Thanks to our farmers for keeping going for food to be on our plates!

We will keep you updated with any dates of events and new members meetings in the near future.   In the meantime, stay safe!   If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or Secretary Laura Dare on 07411837605

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


April 2020:

A coach load of members had been looking forward to going to Whimple and District YFC ball at Crealy adventure park, this unfortunately had to be cancelled, due to the coronavirus outbreak.   We look forward to this ball being hopefully re-scheduled for later on in the year.   All other Young Farmers Club events have also been cancelled for the time being.

In these uncertain times as a club we have been getting involved with various virtual challenges including a recent online scavenger hunt with club members and baking competitions through social media, as well as keeping our farms going. We took part in a ‘loo roll challenge’ where members videoed themselves throwing and catching a loo roll in various ways, locations and outfits. Unfortunately, the annual Devon YFC show and sale, which was meant to be held at Exeter market by Kivells, was moved to being a virtual show and sale on Wednesday 29th April where members sent in pictures of their stock. Well done to chairman Dan Olive coming 4th for pigs and member Kate Burrough coming 4th for Beef and other members who took part.

Due to the current situation on coronavirus, as a Young Farmers Club some of our members have set up a campaign to help the local community around Upottery, Combe St Nicholas, Cotleigh, Yarcombe, Broadway and surrounding areas.   Please contact us on 07411837605, if we can assist you in any way to help the vulnerable and elderly.   We hope you all stay safe and well in these uncertain times.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Dan Olive on 07811-744714, or Secretary Laura Dare on 07411-837605.

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary


March 2020:

At the start of March, 36 members went away for the Young Farmers most anticipated weekend of the year ‘South West Area’ at Newquay from the 6-8th March, joined by others Young Farmers clubs all across the South West.   A very good time was had by all, sampling Newquay’s pubs and clubs.   We have been playing pub sports, which on the 11th March a group of members played against Axminster YFC at York Inn, we won the pool and darts.

A coachload of members had been looking forward to going to Whimple and District YFC ball at Crealy adventure park, this unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.   We look forward to this ball being hopefully re-scheduled for later on in the year.   All other Young Farmers Club events have also been cancelled for the time being.

In these uncertain times as a club we have been getting involved with various virtual challenges and baking competitions through social media, as well as still keeping our farms going.   Due to the current situation on coronavirus, as a Young Farmers Club some of our members have set up a campaign to help the local community around Upottery, Combe St Nicholas, Cotleigh, Yarcombe, Broadway and surrounding areas.   Please contact us on 07411-837605 if we can assist you in any way to help the vulnerable and elderly.

We hope you all stay safe and well in these uncertain times.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Dan Olive on 07811-744714, or Secretary Laura Dare on 07411-837605

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary
 


February 2020:

The start of February on the 2nd saw us perform our drama re-run of hound dog at Axminister guildhall, which was a fun afternoon of entertainment by members, raising a good amount of profit for our charities.

Next in February saw 18 members take part in a club social night bowling at Hollywood bowl Taunton on the 15th February, with a night out in the town after.   A good night out was had by the boys.   A bowling team of 6 members mixture of boys & girls then went down to Exeter to represent the club on Friday 28th February.

Members have also been getting on well, busy playing skittles, pool and darts against other clubs across East Devon in February, winning all 3 games against Sid & Otter.   We won skittles and darts against Whimple.   Also, we won skittles against Culm Valley and also beat Honiton at Darts.   We are yet to play Axminster YFC.

 

At our meeting on the 17th February Martin Broom, kindly came to Yarccombe hall, to help teach members how to play whist, which was great preparation for our whist drive.

On Saturday 29th February we held our annual whist drive at Yarcombe Village Hall where up for grabs was a chicken dinner, vouchers and many other prizes.   This event was well attended with a very good turn out of 56 people (14 tables) attending.   Thank you to members who helped on the night and all those who attended to help support us at this event, we raised profits of £220 for our charities.

As I am writing this several members are getting ready for our big Young Farmers weekend away (South West Area), which is held in Newquay this year from the 6th – 8th March.   I’m sure a good time will be had by all beside the sea. 

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or Secretary Laura Dare on 07411837605


January 2020:

          

After a busy December rounding off 2019 many members were kept busy with all the Christmas festivities, including balls, YFC meals, carol singing and Taunton horse races, a brilliant time was had by all.

2020 has come around very quickly, kicking off with many of our members busy practising for the East Devon YFC drama competition round. This year we performed ‘Hound dog’ on Friday 24th January at Exmouth Pavilion which we came a respectable 4th place, well done to all members who took part and to all those who helped backstage to get the drama ready.  A huge thank you especially to Sam Parris for producing our show and pulling us all together over the past few months.

Alongside all of this we have also found time to fit in a lot of sport, with the girls taking part in 5-a-side football on 17th January and came 3rd, well done to those who played.  On 19th January members played mixed netball, well done to those who took part, with Yarcombe entering two teams, Yarcombe A coming 1st, and Yarcombe B coming 2nd.  There was a boys 5-a-side football team who made it into Devon round and played on 31st January and came 4th.

Pub sports started off on the 29th January where we played against Whimple YFC competing in skittles, darts and pool, which we won the darts and skittles.  We have upcoming matches against Honiton and Culm Valley, good luck to all those taking part.

The re-run of our performance of ‘Hound Dog’, was held on Sunday 2nd February at Axminster Guidhall.  A good turnout was had with profits going towards our charities of the year, Exeter Mardon Neuro-Rehabilitation Centre and Farming Community Network.  Afterwards there was family entertainment by chairman Dan Olive of a ‘First and Last’ game show.  Thank you to everyone that came along and supported us!

Date for your diary is our whist drive which is on Saturday 29th February Yarcombe Village Hall 7:30pm for 8pm start.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Dan Olive on 07811744714, or Secretary Laura Dare on 07411837605

Natalie Sampson, Press Secretary
Yarcombe and District Young Farmers


October 2019:

                                 

September sees the end of the YFC year, where we celebrate what we have achieved over the last year, and look forward to welcoming some different members taking on new roles.   Earlier on in the month however members took part in the ‘just a minute’ competition with the senior team of Andrew and Robert Dyer, Rosie Turner and Kate Tevelyan coming 4th, and the junior team of Peter Grabham and Will Vining coming a fantastic 2nd.

Sunday 22nd September saw us hold out annual harvest supper at Yarcombe Village Hall, where we celebrated the years’ successes, and were delighted to welcome our guest speaker Mr Russell Steer (auctioneer for Kivells), so many thanks to him for coming along.   The evening also saw us give out some awards to highlight members’ individual successes as follows:

Sports:
Shillingford Sports Cup (boys): Tom Olive
Tommy Key Sports Cup (girls): Chloe Webber

Show cups:
Ploughing Match Cup: Dan Olive
Roots Cup: Kate Trevelyan

Most points awarded in 2018/19 (over 18’s):
Advisory Cup: Robert Dyer
Mrs English Cup: Rosie Turner

Most points awarded in 2018/19 (under 18’s):
Minsups Cup: Daniel Sampson
Rose Bowl: Emily Stanbury

Senior Cups:
Monica Bishton: Trophy Rosie Turner
Community Trophy: Robert Dyer

Public Speaking:
Alan & Diana Dyer: Shield Emma Dyer
Loyal Member:
Ian Rich Cup: Fiona Laramy

Skittles:
Boys Cup: Scott Retter
Girls Cup: Rosie Turner and Molly David

Entertains:
Andy Barnes Cup (Best actor/actress): Rosie Turner
Barbara Basket Shield (Personal achievement): Robert Dyer and Charlie Hine



Following the wedding of Emma and Phillip Burrough we were due to hold our afternoon tea and charity auction in their marquee the following day on Sunday 29th September.   Due to the bad weather this event got moved to Yarcombe Village Hall, where despite the last minute change in venue, plenty of people still turned up to support.   With help from auctioneer Will Handel of Greenslade Taylor Hunt, we were able to take over £3,000 which following costs will go towards our charity pot for the year.

Finally at the end of the month on Monday 30th September we held our Annual General Meeting where we thanked our outgoing officers for a tremendous year, and welcomed in our new officers for the year ahead, wishing them as successful a year as the last.   A particular mention must go to president Mr George Pidgeon who stepped down after 5 years in his role, we couldn’t be more thankful for his help in this time.

If anyone has any further questions please contact our new Chairman Dan Olive on 07811 744714 or Secretary Laura Dare on 07411 837605.


September 2019:

                   

The start of August was a very busy time for the club.    It began with Honiton show where members were busy entering varying classes from field, to cookery, photography to handicraft.   It was great to see such a wide display of entries showcasing members’ talents.

Later that week was the Yarcombe Terrier Races which saw members joining in to help set up the event in the week, before running the bar on the Saturday evening to help raise money for village funds.   This was once again a very successful evening.

The week culminated in a charity cream tea in Uplyme by kind permission of Andrew and Kelly Bright and their families, following their wedding on the Saturday evening.   We ran the event alongside Axminster Young Farmers Club, helping to raise nearly £1600 towards our chosen charities.   Thank you to all those who attended and helped to support this event in any way.

The following week saw the first of the years’ speaking competitions starting to take place, with Rosie Turner, Kate Trevelyan, Will Vining and Peter Grabham coming a brilliant 2nd in the Brainstrust competition.   A couple of weeks later Kate Trevelyan, and Robert and Emma Dyer, did very well in a tight Call My Bluff competition coming 3rd place with only 1.5 points separating the top 4 teams.

On Friday 9th August we held our annual foam party by kind permission of the Dyer family, which was once again a roaring success, with multiple teams turning up to pull tug of war despite the pouring rain.

Later in the month members took part in a group rounders competition at Honiton Showground rounding off what has been a very busy month over the summer!   Looking forward we are heading into the new YFC year, and hope to welcome lots of new members in the coming months.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary
 


August 2019:

       

The start of the month saw our mixed netball team head up to Stafford on Sunday 7th July, to compete in the national finals.   The team did us very proud, narrowly missing out on the final stages.

The following week a coach load of members travelled to Withleigh to join in with their 90th anniversary celebratory ball.   A great evening was had by all who attended.

On Sunday 21st July 11 members went into the Honiton Showground, giving up their day to help set up the many sheep pens and the main ring, time that was very much valued by the show committee.

The club would also like to thank John Carter for his kind donation of £100 to the club after he received the John Salter award in Yarcombe.   The money was gratefully received and we hope to put it towards some new sports kits.

Coming up on Sunday 29th September from 2pm, we will be holding a cream tea at Knapp Farm, Yarcombe, EX14 9PB, following the wedding of Phillip Burrough and Emma Dyer.   As well as the cream tea we will also be organising a Chinese Raffle, so we hope to see lots of you there.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary
 


July 2019:


As we move into the summer, the farming calendar gets busier, meaning a quieter time for YFC activities, but we still manage to squeeze a couple of things in.

The start of June saw the boys playing a friendly game of 11-a-side football against Combe St. Nicholas reserves, where the team did extremely well winning 4-2!   This is a great achievement considering our team aren’t used to playing as a team every week.

At the end of the month we held our annual water party by kind permission of the Broom family which was well supported, helping us raise some money for this year's chosen charities as well as Stockland Pre-school.   Thank you to all who helped the event run smoothly.

Coming up we are holding a Cream Tea in conjunction with Axminster YFC by kind permission of the Bright family, on Sunday 4th August from 2pm, at Uplyme, DT7 3RR, signposted from the A35.   We look forward to welcoming lots of you there to help raise money for Exeter Intensive Care Unit (a charity close to Kelly after she spent time there recovering from an accident), NEST (Neonatal Emergency Stabilisation Team), Farming Community Network and Devon Air Ambulance.

We will also be holding our annual foam party on Friday 9th August at Knapp Farm, Yarcombe, EX14 9PB, where there will also be a tug-of-war competition at the start of the evening.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary


June 2019:

        

May is a busy time of year in the farming calendar but members managed to squeeze in some time for various YFC activities.   The start of the month saw members both helping and supporting Yarcombe village’s big breakfast in order to help raise money for the village hall funds – a well supported event.

Devon County Show came along in the middle of the month with the cubicle theme “Children’s Television” which thanks to the hard work of Ella Wittridge and her team came a very respectable 11th out of all the clubs across Devon.   Our club promotion board and scrapbook which I put together also did particularly well, coming a fantastic 1st and 2nd respectively, leaving us taking home the Pennant Trophies Club Programme award.

On Sunday 26th May we held our annual charity bike ride with over 30 members taking part cycling from Buckland St. Mary, to Bishopswood, to Churchinford, finishing at Upottery – an enjoyable day for all.   Thank you to Diana Dyer and Sarah Olive for stewarding the event.

We look forward to a busy summer ahead.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary
 


May 2019:

April was yet another busy month for the club.   We began with our Easter barn disco, held by kind permission of the Hine family in Combe St. Nicholas.   The sunny evening helped make this a well-supported event so thanks to all who attended and helped the night run smoothly.

Later in the month we held our annual Show and Sale, this year held at Exeter Livestock Centre, which was held in conjunction with other clubs from across Devon YFC.   It was a hugely successful day with results as follows:

Beef out of dairy   Ewes and Lambs   Pair of Butchers Pigs
               
Champion: Jack Burrough   Champion: Sarah Broom   Champion: Scott Burrough
22 and under: 1st: Beth Johnson   21 and under: 1st: Matthew Broom   Best Single Pig: Oli Hind
Best Presented: Jack Burrough   Novice: 1st: James Vining      
      Best Presented: Sarah Broom      

Also, well done to Kate Burrough who entered the open beef out of beef class (open to anyone from any club across Devon) and came a brilliant 2nd.

Scott Burrough went on to win the Champion pair of pigs from all members across Devon, and then to win the title of “OVERALL SUPREME SHOW CHAMPION”, so a huge well done to him.

Thank you to show secretary Kate Burrough for her help in organising, also to all our judges and sponsors for your support.

The show and sale culminated in a celebratory meal at The Sidmouth Arms where we presented members with their prizes and trophies.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary


April 2019:

The start of March saw the much-anticipated South West Area Activities weekend with around 40 members heading to Weymouth.   We had a team competing on behalf of Devon in the mixed netball competition, who managed to successfully win and will now go on to represent the South West at the national finals later this year so a huge well done to them!!

A coach load of members attended Whimple & Broadclyst YFCs ball held at Crealy Adventure Park, where an enjoyable night was had by all.

Yarcombe Hall Committee held a fundraising wine and wisdom, where we had a couple of teams take part.

Members have also continued enjoying competing amongst other teams across East Devon in skittles, pool and darts with varying success.

Coming up we will be holding our annual show and sale, this year joining alongside other clubs from Devon, at Exeter Livestock Market on Wednesday 24th April.   Prior to this we will also be holding our dairy heifer show, which will be judged on farm. Good luck to all those competing.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary


March 2019:

    

February saw the club perform our re-run of our entertains production “Selfie” at Axminster Guildhall – a huge thanks once again must go to Sam Parris who helped to produce this year’s production.   The production was followed by additional entertainment from assistant Chairman Dan Olive, who presented Yarcombe’s very own Family Fortunes.   Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event.

Members then took part in a club social night bowling in Taunton, before then competing in the county bowling competition at Exeter where we managed to come a fantastic 3rd out of all the clubs within Devon, so well done to all who took part.

On Friday 22nd February we held our annual whist drive at Yarcombe Village Hall which was well supported, with the highest male being chairman Robert Dyer, and highest lady and overall highest score going to member Sarah Broom.   Thank you to all who helped to support this event.

On Sunday 24th February Sarah Broom and Emma Dyer performed with other members from across East Devon, in the county choir competition where the team managed to come a fantastic 2nd, and having great fun along the way.

Members have also been busy playing skittles, pool and darts against other clubs across East Devon, to battle for a place in the county final.   They will also be attending the South West Area of Young Farmers Weekend in Weymouth where we have a team of mixed netball players competing against other clubs from across the south west – good luck to the team!

Coming up on Friday 19th April we will be holding our first barn disco of the year by kind permission of the Hine family in Combe St. Nicholas (Frog Lane Farm, TA20 3HQ) 8pm-1am.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary
 


February 2019:

We have started off 2019 as busy as any other year.   Most of our time has been taken up with rehearsing for our entertains production of “Smartphone” which we performed at the end of January at the East Devon round of the Entertains competition in Exmouth where we came 5th.

Also, that weekend Emma and Robert Dyer took part in the Senior member of the year competition, having to answer questions on stage in front of the audience, following an interview held earlier in the month.   Congratulations to Emma for coming 3rd in a tightly fought competition.   Also, well done to Molly David who came 4th in the junior member of the year competition where the standard was very high.

Alongside all of this we have also found time to fit in a lot of sport.   First up, we had the girls’ 5-a-side football which we managed to win at both the East Devon and County round!   We also had 2 teams enter the group mixed netball where both teams successfully came 1st and 2nd.   We then went on to the county round where we managed to come a brilliant 2nd.   Huge congratulations to all members for their sporting success!

At the start of January, David Laramy enjoyed a week away with the National YFC Ski trip to Belle Plagne in France – a great opportunity that was thoroughly enjoyed.

Coming up we also have members performing in the East Devon choir team, who by the time of reading this will have competed at the county round in Barnstaple at the end of February, so good luck to all involved.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary
 


December 2018:

   

Christmas through to the New Year is always a busy time in the YFC calendar and this year was no exception.   We kicked off the festivities with our Christmas meal, this year held at the York Inn, Churchinford, at the start of December.   This was followed by turkey plucking one evening at the Hines in Combe St. Nicholas in order to help raise money for this year's charities - members managed to help pick 70 birds in total.

We decided to do things differently this year at our Christmas meeting, combining it with our skittles throw off, with members donating money to charity in order to play, followed by a buffet.   Once again, our charity carol singing was hugely successful on Friday 14th December, where we were able to raise well over £400, again for our chosen charities for the year ahead.   Emma Dyer also represented the club by doing a reading at Yarcombe Church’s carol service.

Many members enjoyed dressing up in their black-tie attire to attend both Devon and Marshwood balls in the run up to Christmas, celebrating the season in style, and later in the Christmas to New Year period the club enjoyed a social day out to Taunton Races where some were luckier than others!

Alongside all of this, members have been busy preparing for the upcoming entertainments competition at the end of January, as well as Emma and Robert Dyer competing in the Senior member of the year, and Molly David competing in the Junior member of the year competitions, so good luck to all of those involved.

We will be performing a re-run of our entertainments production, on Sunday 17th February, 2pm for 2.30pm start at Axminster Guildhall.   Also coming up we will be holding our annual whist drive on Friday 22nd February, at Yarcombe Village Hall, 7.30 for an 8pm start.

If anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary


November 2018:

  

November has been yet another busy month for the club, we kickstarted the month by helping commemorate 100 years since the end of World War 1.   We supported Yarcombe’s “Thank You 100” event on Saturday 10th November by helping to provide the bar.   On the Sunday we then laid a wreath at the church service.   Also this weekend Emma Dyer represented East Devon at the county round of After Dinner Speaking where the team came a brilliant 3rd place in a tightly fought competition.

This month members also paid a visit to Harry’s Cider based near Langport where members were fortunate enough to have a look around the orchards and cider making facilities, learning more about the process from apple to bottle.   The winning netball team went on to compete at the county round coming a fantastic 3rd place so well done to all who took part.

At one of our meetings we were pleased to be the first club in Devon to undertake the Rural + training, a session derived from the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs, aimed at increasing members’ awareness of mental health conditions.   It highlighted the importance of us all talking about our mental health and being more aware of rural isolation.

We once again held a successful wine and wisdom in Yarcombe Village Hall, which was well attended, helping to raise money for our 2 chosen charities for the year ahead: NEST: Newborn Emergency Stabilisation and Transport Team and Exeter RD&E Intensive Care Unit, both charities close to the club's heart.

The club is looking forward to a busy festive period, and if anyone has any further questions please contact Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary


October 2018:

 

October has been another busy month for the club, starting with our AGM and election of new officers where it was great to see lots of people taking on new roles.   Thank you to last years team and we wish the new officers every success in the year ahead.

New chairman and secretary Robert and Rosie went to an Officers Training Weekend in Okehampton organised by Devon YFC to learn more about their roles.

We had a team enter the final speaking competition of the year: After Dinner Speaking, with members creating speeches on Model Railways and Police Officers. Emma Dyer was selected to go through and represent East Devon at the county round where the team managed to come 3rd.

We held our Halloween disco at Yarcombe Village Hall on Friday 26th October, which was well supported, and it was great to see lots of people embracing the fancy dress theme!

We held our new members meeting the following Monday where it was great to welcome lots of new members, and we played some games at the end to help everyone get to know one another.   At this meeting we also welcomed Dave Cook from Devon Freewheelers who spoke to us about the amazing work they do, and we were fortunate enough to be able to present him with a cheque for £2500!   This money has been gratefully received by the charity.

On Sunday 4th November we had 2 teams playing at the East Devon round of the netball which we managed to WIN so well done to everyone who played.

We were also pleased to be able help support the "Thank You 100" Celebration party in Yarcombe Village Hall by helping run the bar on Saturday 10th November.

Members look forward to the upcoming busy Christmas period with lots on in the programme.

For further information on Yarcombe & District YFC, please contact our Chairman Robert Dyer on 07552 743600 or our Secretary Rosie Turner on 07713 124884.

Emma Dyer, Press Secretary
 


September 2018:

September marks the end of our young farmers calendar year and the changeover of officers moving forward.   It has also been the month for the start of speaking competitions with two teams from Yarcombe taking part in Brainstrust on the 2nd of September.   Well done to the junior team who managed to come 2nd place (Peter G, Daniel S, Will V and Jack R).

It was decided this year to donate £2500 to each of our chosen charities.   Emma Dyer and Claire Johnson visited Bristol Children’s Hospital on Tuesday 18th where they learnt the ward we were donating to looks after children with neurological conditions, or who are recovering from brain surgery.   The money will go towards refurbishments that are currently underway on their rehab ward for patients undertaking a longer stay.   Devon Freewheelers, our other charity are going to come along to a monthly meeting in the near future to receive their money and provide us with a talk about what their work involves.

This year’s harvest supper took place on Sunday 23rd Sept at Yarcombe village hall.   Thank you to all members for making the night a success and run so smoothly.   A special thanks to Pat Tomlinson our guest speaker for providing an interesting speech about his role in agriculture.   Well done to all prize winners on the evening and thanks to all our advisory and parents for continuing to support us.

On the 29th Emma D, Chloe W and Emily S took part in the ready steady cook competition at the Malvern Show.   This was to represent Devon YFC at the National cookery finals.   The team came a respectable 19th place out of 35 teams that entered.

With nothing left to report I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone for the continued support to Yarcombe YFC every month and particularly this year.

Upcoming events:
26th October – Yarcombe YFC Disco @ Yarcombe VH
4th November – East Devon Netball
17th November – Yarcombe YFC Wine and Wisdom @ Yarcombe VH

Louise Johnson Press Secretary
 


August 2018:

August is always home to the ever famous Honiton Agricultural Show, which is a big event in the East Devon YFC calendar.   This year held on the 2nd of August several members entered a variety of classes, supporting team Yarcombe.   A huge thank you goes to Kelly Nichols for all her time put into the club cubicle which came a respectable 6th place and to Louise Johnson whose scrapbook and promotions board for the club both came 3rd place.   Not only an enjoyable day, members got to attend the ‘after show dance’ that evening and Hontion YFC’s twilight ball on Saturday the 4th.

We once again did the bar at the Yarcombe terrier races on Saturday the 4th.   This made a profit of £1164.77 which was decided to be split, donating £600 to Yarcombe church and the rest to charity.   Thank you to Yarcombe community for their continued support and we hope all members of the public had an enjoyable evening with their dogs!

On Friday the 10th we held our annual foam party at Reads Hill Farm, Chardstock by kind permission of the Burrough family.   With a bar, BBQ and disco the event was set out to be a good evening, however was unfortunately called short due to an incident beyond our control, whereby an over 18 attendee hit her head on the concrete floor.   Due to these unforeseen circumstances and the emergency services being called it is likely that this event will make a loss in profit but will be subsidised by the amount of supplies we have left over to use at our next event.   Thank you to all our advisory and club supporters for helping us deal with the situation on the evening.

We finished the month off with the most enjoyable day, a raft race from Whitford bridge to Colyford.   Yarcombe YFC held the race on bank holiday Monday 27th August with an amazing 14 teams taking part and all crossing the finishing line.   Well done to the team of Yarcombe boys who completed the race in the quickest time and to the team from Axminster YFC for winning the best fancy dress element.   Total profit made on the day was £281.

Upcoming events:
18th September – East Devon ‘Just a Minute’ speaking competition
23rd September – Harvest Supper @ Yarcombe VH
1st October – Club AGM @ Upottery VH
26th October – Yarcombe YFC disco

For more information about Yarcombe & District YFC contact our chairman Richie Barnes on 07519353652 or our secretary Emma Dyer on 07462344587.

Louise Johnson Press Secretary


July 2018:

July was kicked off for Yarcombe YFC with a current vs old members cricket match held at Upottery Cricket Club on Sunday 8th July.   This was a scorching hot day so congratulations to all who played until the very end.

Twelve members managed to complete a charity bicycle ride the following weekend, on Saturday 15th July, cycling 10 miles in total.   This consisted of following a route around the local area and stopping at half a dozen pubs along the way.   Thank you to members of the public who donated and supported the event as they saw us on their travels.   All money has gone towards our chosen charities this year.

We finished the month off with a charity cream tea held on Sunday 29th July.   The event was held at Birch Oak Farm, Yarcombe by kind permission of the Parris family and two of our senior members, newlyweds Jenna and James Parris.   We would like to thank them for letting our club use their beautiful marquee.   Around 300 people turned out to support the cream tea, despite the weather not being on our side a great afternoon was had by all.   Congratulations to all members and advisory that donated and baked all scones, cakes and raffle prizes sold on the day.   We managed to raise around £1400 to go towards, Devon Freewheelers and Bristol Children’s Hospital Neonatal Ward.