Welly Week round-up - Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution
Welly Week round-up - Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution
Welly Week round-up - Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution
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Winter 2008<br />
The newsletter from the <strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Agricultural</strong><br />
<strong>Benevolent</strong> <strong>Institution</strong><br />
news<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>round</strong>-<strong>up</strong><br />
see page 12<br />
For Christmas<br />
and beyond<br />
see page 2<br />
Psychedelic sheep<br />
set for Smithfield<br />
see page 16<br />
The royal agricultural charity providing financial s<strong>up</strong>port to the farming community past, present and future
Calendar su ported by<br />
For Christmas and beyond<br />
Christmas Cards<br />
RABI Christmas cards have once again proved to be very popular and for<br />
those last minute ones there is still time to place orders - <strong>up</strong> to 19th<br />
December.<br />
Details of the designs can be found at www.rabi.org.uk and you can<br />
download an order form. Alternatively they are available from your regional<br />
officer or the fundraising, marketing & communications department at<br />
Shaw House on 01865 724931.<br />
Books<br />
Stoneg<strong>round</strong>, the masterly biography of John<br />
Rymer, based on his own writings by Mike Keeble,<br />
is a most revealing insight into one of the most<br />
successful farming pioneers of our time.<br />
It is a book which will appeal to anyone with a<br />
fascination for farming’s recent past and an<br />
interest in its future sustainability. To say that it is<br />
a good read is an understatement.<br />
Copies of the book, £10 plus £1.50 p&p, are<br />
available from JSR Limited, Southburn, Driffield, East Yorkshire, YO25<br />
9ED or from RABI.<br />
Thanks to the generosity of the Rymer family, all the proceeds from<br />
sales of the book are being donated to RABI.<br />
Horse Tales is a delightful book of<br />
anecdotes from the bygone age of the working<br />
horse, compiled by Harry Sear. He has been<br />
collecting the tales from a<strong>round</strong> the country<br />
for the past 20 years and, with many of the<br />
original story tellers having passed on, he<br />
decided it was time to write them down<br />
before they are lost for ever. It is<br />
complemented by Michael Avery’s amusing illustrations.<br />
This ideal stocking filler, especially for those who still remember horse<br />
power on the farm, is available from Harlin House Publishers, Charity<br />
Farm, Eggington, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, LU7 9PB, price £12<br />
including p&p (cheques payable to Harry Sear).<br />
There are currently three RABI originated cookbooks available:<br />
The Proof is in the Pudding, a collection of tried and tested<br />
favourite recipes compiled by RABI Cumbria committee member Pat<br />
Turnbull. Available from 25 Walverden Road, Briercliffe, Burnley, BB10<br />
3QP, price £9, including p&p (cheques payable to RABI).<br />
Farmers’ Favourites, the 2007 edition of Sally Mitchell’s popular<br />
cookbook first published in 1996. Available price £5.95 from Old Pond<br />
Publishing Ltd – see www.oldpond.com<br />
Look and Cook, a collection of 77 recipes gathered from members<br />
and friends of Carmarthenshire RABI committee by Margaret Howell.<br />
Available, price £5, from Erys Hughes, regional officer for Wales, phone<br />
01686 650937 or 07799 79844.<br />
Notelets<br />
RABI notelets, ideal for<br />
all those thank you<br />
notes you will be<br />
writing after<br />
Christmas. Produced in<br />
the south east region,<br />
packs of 10 (five of<br />
each design), price<br />
£3, are available<br />
from south east<br />
regional officer Sally<br />
Field, phone 01803<br />
882741 or 07799<br />
798441<br />
Calendars<br />
Farming in focus 2009 is proving a big<br />
hit with all who have seen it. Designed on<br />
the same lines as this year’s calendar but<br />
with a bit more space to write your daily<br />
notes or appointments, it once again<br />
includes some stunning rural scenes kindly<br />
donated by leading photographer members<br />
of the Guild of <strong>Agricultural</strong> Journalists.<br />
It has again been s<strong>up</strong>ported by the NFU<br />
Mutual Charitable Trust, ensuring that all<br />
proceeds go directly towards helping those in need.<br />
At only £7 (including post and packing) it is a real bargain.<br />
Full details can be found on the enclosed insert and, as with the<br />
Christmas cards, on the website or from Shaw House.<br />
Farming in focus<br />
RABI Calendar 2009<br />
A l proceeds go towards helping those in need in the farming community.<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> Wallmanac, is a 14-month<br />
calendar (from October 2008)<br />
produced by the Norfolk RABI<br />
committee and launched in <strong>Welly</strong><br />
<strong>Week</strong>. It has been compiled by<br />
committee member Carolyn Gay, who<br />
secured £2,000 in sponsorship, with<br />
every page carrying a photograph of<br />
different s<strong>up</strong>porters suitably clad in<br />
wellies, with the exception of the<br />
Eastern Daily Press agricultural editor,<br />
Michael Pollitt, who is hiding behind<br />
them!<br />
It is on sale at the Christmas card<br />
shop at the Assembly House, Norwich for £6. For additional availability<br />
contact the Norfolk RABI secretary, Sally Mitchell, on 01692 670521.<br />
Annual Christmas<br />
hamper appeal<br />
Every year RABI delivers a<strong>round</strong> 1,000 hampers to beneficiaries, providing<br />
them with essential foodstuff and a few seasonal luxuries to help them<br />
celebrate Christmas.<br />
Last year nearly half the total number was paid for by donations - £35<br />
will buy a hamper for a single person and £55 buys a hamper for a co<strong>up</strong>le.<br />
This year our target is to double that figure. Thanks to a generous<br />
donation of £12,800 from the Oxford biennial dinner, held earlier this year<br />
at Keble College, we have made a good start and are already half way<br />
towards our target.<br />
Details of how you can help, by donating the cost of a hamper and<br />
bringing a little Christmas cheer to someone in need, can be found on the<br />
enclosed insert, on the website - www.rabi.org.uk - or from the fundraising,<br />
marketing & communications department at Shaw House on 01865<br />
724931.<br />
RABI staff and their wellies<br />
competition<br />
Congratulations to Rosemary Brown of Little Walkers Heath Farm in<br />
Cheshire, the only entrant to correctly match all nine members of the<br />
RABI staff with their wellies in the autumn issue of R.A.B.I. News. She<br />
should have received her Farming in Focus calendar by now, as should<br />
the four runners-<strong>up</strong> - Kate Read from Hexham; Anna Burdett & Pam<br />
McGowan of the News & Star, Carlise; Louise Graham from Newark; and<br />
Jeanette Folland from Winkleigh.<br />
The correct pairings were A-4; B-6; C-3; D-7; E-9; F-5; G-2; H-8; I-1.<br />
www.rabi.org.uk<br />
2
Introduction<br />
Cause for concern<br />
<strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Agricultural</strong><br />
<strong>Benevolent</strong> <strong>Institution</strong><br />
With compassion and discretion we provide<br />
welfare advice, care and financial provision<br />
to those in the farming community suffering<br />
need, hardship or distress.<br />
Through our volunteers and s<strong>up</strong>porters we<br />
raise the funds to maintain and develop a cost<br />
effective service capable of meeting the<br />
welfare and wellbeing needs of those farming<br />
in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.<br />
Index<br />
News from Shaw House 4<br />
London 10k<br />
Great North Run<br />
Welfare 5<br />
Beneficiary holiday<br />
Beaufort House refurbishment<br />
Manson House goodbye<br />
A<strong>round</strong> the country 6<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>round</strong>-<strong>up</strong> 12<br />
Looking ahead 16<br />
Psychedelic sheep for Smithfield<br />
Dorset Charity Challenge.<br />
RABI, Shaw House, 27 West Way<br />
Oxford, OX2 0QH<br />
tel: 01865 724931<br />
fax: 01865 202025<br />
e-mail: info@rabi.org.uk<br />
website: www.rabi.org.uk<br />
confidential helpline 01865 727888<br />
R.A.B.I News is edited by Nicholas Bond<br />
who can be contacted at the above or<br />
tel: 01789 721311 (home/office)<br />
e-mail: nicholas.bond@farming.me.uk<br />
RABI operates throughout England, Wales<br />
and Northern Ireland. A sister charity, RSABI<br />
operates in Scotland.<br />
Registered charity no. 208858<br />
COVER PICTURE:<br />
SheepScape sheep grazing in Gloucestershire<br />
before heading for Smithfield - see page 16<br />
'Credit crunch hits charity giving’ and ‘Farm<br />
borrowing at record levels’. Two recent news<br />
headlines that could be giving us cause for<br />
concern.<br />
The first reported that over the past year one<br />
in four charities that accepts donations had<br />
seen a fall in giving and one in five had<br />
experienced a rise in demand for their services.<br />
The Charity Commission chairman was<br />
reported as saying that charities were facing a<br />
great deal of uncertainty. They were being<br />
squeezed by higher costs and higher demands<br />
for vital services even before the Icelandic bank<br />
collapses, in which UK charities may have lost<br />
<strong>up</strong> to £120m of invested funds.<br />
The second concerned figures that show<br />
lending to the farming industry is at an all time<br />
record of £10.6bn. Lloyds TSB was anticipating<br />
increased borrowing next year, as farmers face higher tax bills, based on 2007 profits.<br />
Meanwhile, rising input prices and volatile grain markets are putting farmers' cash flows<br />
under pressure.<br />
RABI has been fortunate in that over the years its trustees built a firm base, ensuring<br />
that its investments were sound, while its main source of income has traditionally come<br />
from within the industry it serves. However, with the industry shrinking and the numbers<br />
needing RABI's help growing, there has been a growth in the fundraising activities aimed<br />
at those outside the farming community.<br />
As the effects of the credit crunch bite, for an increasing number of people it will, of<br />
necessity, be a case of charity starting at home. This is going to make it harder to<br />
fundraise outside the industry, while the cash flows of many of our most loyal and<br />
traditional s<strong>up</strong>porters are likely to be under increasing pressure.<br />
It behoves us all to ensure that giving is managed as efficiently as possible, for<br />
instance making sure that Gift Aid is applied to all donations whenever it is applicable.<br />
This way we will be able to concentrate more of our concern on those who need our help<br />
and less on the gloomy headlines.<br />
Thank you for wearing your wellies<br />
The first RABI <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> was a great success thanks to everyone who participated and<br />
the spirit in which such a variety events took place. It is important to keep the fun in<br />
fundraising, particularly in times of economic depression. We certainly achieved that as<br />
the extended <strong>round</strong>-<strong>up</strong> of events, which is only a fraction of what took place, testifies.<br />
Thank you for wearing your wellies – see you in them again next year.<br />
Nicholas Bond<br />
Editor<br />
Apologies<br />
Our apologies to Mr & Mrs Charles Dakin, hosts of the annual Shropshire lunch whose<br />
picture in the autumn R.A.B.I. News, was somehow replaced by three Shropshire<br />
committee members about to carve the meat.<br />
Also for leaving a nought off the sum raised by the Oxford Moonlight Stroll, in the<br />
introduction to our new trust officer Nick Streeter. The figure should have been<br />
£70,000.<br />
Finally, to those who are still waiting for the next episode of ‘RABI’s first 150 years’,<br />
which has again been squeezed out, this time by <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong>. It will be back in March.<br />
3 www.rabi.org.uk
News from Shaw House<br />
London 10k<br />
RABI runners pose for a post race picture in<br />
front of Horseguards Parade with (insert) three<br />
members of the team, from Norfolk, who<br />
unfortunately missed the main photoshoot<br />
High winds and rain did nothing to<br />
deter our team of 40 runners at this<br />
year’s London 10k road race. At the time<br />
of writing, the team has raised over £7,000 with more to come in – a<br />
great achievement.<br />
To the strains of Chariots of Fire, our team set off a<strong>round</strong> London’s<br />
famous landmarks in the company of runners from all over the world,<br />
including current Olympic and world champions. A champion of our<br />
own emerged – Darren Waters from Shropshire completed the course<br />
in just over 40 minutes, only slightly outside the top 100 best times<br />
out of a total field of 26,000.<br />
This was our seventh year of entering the race and we were<br />
delighted to welcome new faces from Norfolk, Suffolk and Shropshire.<br />
Special tribute must also be paid to our Berks/Bucks/Oxon team,<br />
several of whom have never missed a run and to the team from<br />
Bidwells in Cambridgeshire who entered for the third year.<br />
The challenging weather made for an interesting post-race picnic in<br />
St James’s Park but, thanks to Ray Stollery’s expert navigation of road<br />
closures to transport the refreshments and Sally Field’s acclaimed<br />
catering, our runners and s<strong>up</strong>porters departed fed and watered, if not<br />
also somewhat wet.<br />
Next year’s run takes place on Sunday, 12th July and will be the<br />
last before the big one – in 2010 we have 150 places allocated to<br />
celebrate our 150th anniversary.<br />
Website Revamp<br />
In the lead <strong>up</strong> to<br />
RABI’s 150th<br />
anniversary in<br />
2010, we have<br />
given our website<br />
an overhaul. With<br />
funding provided<br />
by DEFRA, the<br />
site has been<br />
given a more<br />
modern feel and<br />
will include a<br />
facility for<br />
applications for<br />
assistance to be<br />
made online.<br />
The new site was scheduled to be live from the end of November. Please<br />
visit www.rabi.org.uk, to have a look for yourself and let us have your<br />
comments.<br />
Great North Run<br />
While on the subject of running - among the runners in this year’s Great<br />
North Run were RABI’s fundraising officer, Nick Streeter, and three<br />
members of the Walton family from Lancashire.<br />
Nick, was attempting<br />
his first ever half<br />
marathon and, despite his<br />
fairly lax training regime,<br />
he successfully finished<br />
the run in 2 hours 45<br />
minutes, raising some<br />
£1,100 in sponsorship.<br />
Catherine Walton, a<br />
graduate of Harper<br />
Adams Agriculurtal<br />
College, grew <strong>up</strong> on farms<br />
in East Yorkshire before<br />
making her home in<br />
Lancashire, where she<br />
met her husband Stephen<br />
Nick looking surprisingly fresh at the end of 13.1 miles!<br />
The Waltons - Isaac (3), Catherine and Sam (5),– after<br />
the run when they raised funds for RABI<br />
Staff News<br />
through the young<br />
farmers club. It was also<br />
her first half marathon,<br />
completed in a very<br />
creditable 2 hours and 5<br />
minutes while sons Sam,<br />
aged five, and Isaac, aged<br />
three, completed the Mini<br />
North Run Mile on the<br />
previous day. Between<br />
them they raised in excess<br />
of £1,000, which will be<br />
equally split between<br />
Westhead School (Sam's<br />
school), Lathom St James<br />
Playgro<strong>up</strong> (Isaac's<br />
playgro<strong>up</strong>) and RABI.<br />
Well done to all of<br />
them.<br />
Yvonne Bonas and Carole Smith on a recent visit to Shaw House<br />
Changes at Manson House<br />
The retirement of Yvonne Bonas as manager of Manson House, RABI’s<br />
retirement home in Bury St Edmunds, is reported on page 5.<br />
A dedicated and much loved head of the house she will be missed by<br />
residents and staff alike.<br />
She has been succeeded by Carole Smith, who has been team leader at<br />
the home since 2003, which enabled there to be a smooth transition<br />
between them. Gillian Giffiths has joined the staff as the new team leader.<br />
www.rabi.org.uk<br />
4
Welfare<br />
Beneficiary Holiday<br />
Beaufort House refurbishment<br />
Thanks to the s<strong>up</strong>port of the Buckinghamshire County Farmers Ball<br />
Committee, the lounge, bar and dining room at Beaufort House, have<br />
been completely refurbished. The committee’s most recent donation<br />
has funded the cost of new carpets, curtains and new furniture. “We<br />
are also planning to get a new large flat screen television and DVD<br />
which can be used for film afternoons”, explains the manager, Sue<br />
Luck. “We are extremely fortunate to have such great friends and are<br />
very grateful for the continued s<strong>up</strong>port.”<br />
Enjoying the Devon sunshine, the beneficiaries and helpers on one of the day trips<br />
during this year’s holiday. Trish Pickford is on the far left of the gro<strong>up</strong> while<br />
Christophine Goss is hiding behind the large sunglasses in the back row.<br />
Every year, in September, the RABI welfare department organises a weeklong<br />
holiday for elderly or disabled beneficiaries who would not otherwise<br />
have the opportunity to go away. For some, having spent a lifetime working<br />
on the land, it can be the first proper holiday they have ever had.<br />
The arrangements and the organisation during the holiday are ably<br />
carried out by Trish Pickford, head of the welfare department, and the<br />
deputy head Christophine Goss. Judging by the letters of thanks received<br />
after each holiday, they provide something very special for the participants.<br />
This year a party of 30, including helpers, had a very happy time in<br />
South Devon. Based at the Sefton Hotel in Babbacombe, near Torquay,<br />
they enjoyed a range of outings and entertainment as the report from two<br />
of the participants, Bob and Frances from Yorkshire, describes.<br />
We were pleased to receive a letter from RABI inviting us to a holiday in<br />
Torquay.<br />
We thought it would be nice to go but nothing prepared us for the<br />
enjoyment that we and everyone else on the holiday had. The Sefton Hotel<br />
has beautiful views overlooking Babbacombe Bay. The hotel itself was very<br />
comfortable, and clean. All the staff were very nice.<br />
Brian, our driver for the trips out, was very helpful to everyone and took<br />
some wonderful photos of us all. There was entertainment every night -<br />
usually overshadowed by the main dancers, Trish and Christophine, who, as<br />
part of RABI, planned everything and went along to look after us all. They<br />
were amazing all week.<br />
We will never forget the trips we went on - to Living Coasts, Torquay;<br />
Buckfast Abbey; seeing the butterflies and otters; the ride on the steam<br />
train; and the variety show at the theatre. All these things will stay in our<br />
memory but none more so that all the wonderful people we met, some of<br />
whom we have kept in touch with and become good friends with.<br />
It is without doubt the most enjoyable holiday we have had, so to RABI<br />
and especially Trish and Christophine who we can’t praise enough, thank<br />
you from us and everyone else who went, a great time was had by all.<br />
Thank you to every one - Frances & Bob<br />
We are very grateful to Brown & Co, Bury St Edmunds, for their<br />
generous donation of £3,044 towards the funding of this year’s<br />
holiday.<br />
Reflecting on silver<br />
While we were enjoying the reflected<br />
glory of the British team’s success in<br />
the Olympics one RABI beneficiary,<br />
Mrs Vera Hutchings from Devon, had<br />
a much more personal involvement.<br />
Her granddaughter, Heather Fell, was<br />
competing in the modern pentathlon.<br />
In return for sewing on name tags Vera, who has followed Heather's<br />
for her before she left for Beijing, Vera progress keenly, has a large collection<br />
told Heather she would like her to of medals and trophies that her<br />
granddaughter has won over the years,<br />
bring home a medal! Heather did not<br />
along with many photographs of her<br />
let her down, she won silver!<br />
competing<br />
The completely refurbished dining room<br />
with new tables and chairs<br />
Residential homes<br />
A corner of the redecorated lounge with<br />
its new carpet, curtains and chairs<br />
Yvonne says goodbye to<br />
Manson House<br />
The retirement of Yvonne Bonas as home<br />
manager was marked in style, with at least<br />
two parties to mark her 20 years of<br />
continuous service at Manson House.<br />
Yvonne first joined the home in 1981,<br />
working nights, before taking a nursing<br />
post at West Suffolk Hospital. She<br />
returned to Manson in 1988 as deputy<br />
warden, was appointed senior warden the<br />
following year, deputy head of home in<br />
1993 and head of home eight years ago.<br />
Yvonne (4th left) and her successor Carole Smith (3rd<br />
left) with some members of the Manson House team<br />
The depth of feeling expressed by staff<br />
and residents alike at her retirement bore<br />
testimony to how well she ran the home<br />
and how much she was going to be<br />
missed. One resident summed it <strong>up</strong> during<br />
the presentation to Yvonne by the<br />
chairman of the Manson House<br />
committee Michael Paske, “This is not a<br />
care home - it is a caring home”.<br />
Following her retirement she planned to<br />
visit relatives in Canada.<br />
Manson House cook Marion<br />
Bryant, presenting Yvonne with<br />
an exquisite (and equally<br />
delicious!) farewell cake<br />
Michael Paske had several<br />
amusing stories in his address<br />
following Yvonne’s farewell lunch<br />
RABI has two residential homes, Beaufort House at Burnham-on-Sea<br />
and Manson House at Bury St Edmunds. For information about them<br />
visit the website – www.rabi.org.uk or call the welfare department on<br />
01865 724931.<br />
5<br />
www.rabi.org.uk
A<strong>round</strong> the country<br />
REGIONAL<br />
OFFICERS<br />
NORTH EAST<br />
Sally Conner<br />
Durham, Northumberland, East<br />
Yorkshire, North Yorkshire<br />
tel: 01964 541400<br />
mobile: 07818 093506<br />
sally.conner@rabi.org.uk<br />
NORTH WEST<br />
Georgina Lamb<br />
Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, South<br />
Yorkshire, West Yorkshire<br />
tel/fax: 01282 411484<br />
mobile: 07917 114250<br />
georgina.lamb@rabi.org.uk<br />
CENTRAL<br />
Fay Dewey<br />
Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire,<br />
Warwickshire, Worcestershire<br />
tel: 02476 403122<br />
mobile: 07876 492839<br />
fay.dewey@rabi.org.uk<br />
EAST OF ENGLAND<br />
Bob Archibald<br />
Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex,<br />
Hertfordshire, Huntingdon, Norfolk,<br />
Rutland, Suffolk<br />
tel: 01366 385388<br />
mobile: 07739 297374<br />
bob.archibald@rabi.org<br />
EAST MIDLANDS<br />
Milly Wastie<br />
Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire,<br />
Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire<br />
tel: 01604 706681<br />
mobile: 07525 323450<br />
milly.wastie@rabi.org.uk<br />
SOUTH EAST OF ENGLAND<br />
Sally Field<br />
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Kent,<br />
Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire,<br />
Surrey, Sussex<br />
tel: 01903 882741<br />
mobile: 07799 798441<br />
tax: 01903 882501<br />
sally.field@rabi.org<br />
Busy time in the north east<br />
After the chaotic summer and equally busy<br />
autumn our winter period has quietened down,<br />
resulting in a much-needed rest for all of us!<br />
North Yorkshire will be holding their wonderful<br />
Christmas Musical evening at Swinton Park on<br />
10th December - always a lovely start to the<br />
Christmas period.<br />
In February East Yorkshire are staging a<br />
concert in Brandesburton Church featuring the<br />
Hot Gospel Choir – as a member of the choir, I<br />
am really looking forward to sharing them with<br />
my East Yorkshire committee! The committee are<br />
also hosting a Golf Am Am for the first time on<br />
15th June, at Driffield Golf Club. Any teams of<br />
four are invited to come along, great course and<br />
great prizes!<br />
We will also be having the usual Singing<br />
Farmers Concerts: dates and venues will be<br />
confirmed shortly. Watch out for future events<br />
both in Northumberland and County Durham.<br />
Sally Conner<br />
Triumphant end to vets ‘try’athlon<br />
Northumberland RABI chairman Michael Richardson and regional officer Sally Conner<br />
congratulating cyclists from the A1northumbria Veterinary Gro<strong>up</strong> at the completion of their<br />
‘try’athlon, in the main<br />
ring at the Glendale<br />
Show, Wooler.<br />
Members of the gro<strong>up</strong><br />
had run, canoed and<br />
cycled between its<br />
veterinary practices<br />
across the county,<br />
raising funds for three<br />
charities, including<br />
RABI. Organised by<br />
senior partner John<br />
McFarlane, they raised<br />
over £1,000 for RABI.<br />
Centenary dinner dance<br />
Thanks to a huge amount of time and effort by the Northumberland RABI committee and Alan<br />
Coxon from County Durham, a very successful dinner dance, celebrating the centenary of the<br />
NFU was held at the Hilton, Gateshead. With the table centre decorations in wellies, the occasion<br />
was also used to launch the north east’s <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> celebrations. 320 guests danced the night<br />
away to the Ray Chester Big Band and over £4,000 was raised for RABI.<br />
SOUTH WEST OF ENGLAND<br />
Nick Toms<br />
Cornwall, Devon, Dorset,<br />
Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire<br />
tel/fax: 01752 893502<br />
mobile: 07919 478518<br />
nick.toms@rabi.org<br />
WALES/CYMRU<br />
Erys Hughes<br />
tel: 01686 650937<br />
mobile: 07799 798446<br />
erys.hughes@rabi.org<br />
ffôn: 01686 650937<br />
ffôn symudol: 07799 798446<br />
erys.hughes@rabi.org.uk<br />
Pictured at the dinner dance – NFU president Peter Kendall; Sir Don Curry; NFU vice-president Paul Temple and his<br />
wife Alison; Sally Conner; and Lord Plumb.<br />
www.rabi.org.uk 6
A<strong>round</strong> the country<br />
Hard work and commitment in north west<br />
A special thanks to all my county committees for their hard work and<br />
commitment throughout the year, also to the gro<strong>up</strong>s and YFCs across<br />
the north west for all their <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> antics (some of which appear on<br />
the <strong>round</strong>-<strong>up</strong> on pages 12-15)<br />
In addition to <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> activities there has been a lot happening in<br />
the region, including a very successful Cheshire ploughing match.<br />
West Yorkshire committee had a productive end of show season<br />
attending the Halifax Food and Drink Festival and the Penistone show.<br />
We also received a donation from the Halifax NFU Centenary<br />
celebrations. I am very proud of what this brand new committee has<br />
achieved this year with both fundraising and awareness increasing over<br />
the past twelve months.<br />
Cheshire cheque<br />
Mid Cheshire Farmers<br />
Club added to its<br />
previous very generous<br />
donations over the<br />
years when David<br />
Rosten presented<br />
Georgina Lamb with a<br />
cheque for £800 from<br />
the club, at the<br />
Cheshire Ploughing<br />
Match.<br />
Raising the profile in Wales<br />
As another year draws to a close, I look forward to the Winter Fairs at<br />
Anglesey and the <strong>Royal</strong> Welsh showg<strong>round</strong> which again affords an<br />
opportunity to renew old acquaintances and, hopefully, meet new<br />
friends, so please do visit our stands.<br />
In 2009, our efforts will continue to raise the awareness and profile<br />
of RABI, and it is already good to record that there is an increase in<br />
requests from a variety of organisations to give presentations on our<br />
work. I would also suspect that fundraising will be an increasingly<br />
difficult task as the “credit crunch” bites even more but I have no doubt<br />
that the commitment and hard work of our committees will continue.<br />
May I take this opportunity of thanking all committee members for<br />
their hard work throughout the year and wish you all a very happy<br />
Christmas.<br />
Looking ahead, on 5th December we have a charity auction in Carlisle<br />
and there are Farmhouse Breakfast events being organised in all the<br />
north west counties.<br />
Georgina Lamb<br />
Cumbrian generosity<br />
The RABI Cumbrian committee was very fortunate to be the chosen<br />
charity of Carrs Milling Industries’ sumptuous celebrations in a<br />
luxurious marquee in the Garden at Eden, Carlisle. The generosity of<br />
Mr Chris Holmes and all at Carrs was exceptional, with their event<br />
and an auction of promises raising in excess of £10,000. We were<br />
also offered the use of the marquee for the “Party on the Green”, in<br />
conjunction with another local charity, raising £450.<br />
Lunch in Lancashire<br />
A packed programme in<br />
Lancashire included Sunday<br />
lunch at Ferrari's, in Longridge,<br />
when 120 guests were<br />
entertained by James Herriot’s<br />
son Jim Wight with tales from<br />
All Creatures Great and Small.<br />
The event raised £1,200.<br />
All the fun of the fair<br />
Cylchlythyr<br />
Wrth inni nesáu at ddiwedd blwyddyn arall, edrychaf ymlaen at y<br />
Ffeiriau Gaeaf ar Ynys Môn a Maes y Sioe Frenhinol. Bydd y rhain yn<br />
gyfle unwaith eto i gwrdd â hen gyfeillion, a gyda lwc, i gwrdd â rhai<br />
newydd – bydd croeso cynnes i bawb ar ein stondin.<br />
Yn 2009, codi ymwybyddiaeth a phroffil RABI fydd y ffocws, a braf<br />
yw cael nodi’r cynnydd yn y nifer o geisiadau gan fudiadau amrywiol i<br />
roi cyflwyniadau ar ein gwaith. Buaswn yn amau hefyd, y bydd y gwaith<br />
o godi arian yn mynd yn anoddach wrth i effaith y “wasgfa gredyd”<br />
ddod yn fwy amlwg. Ond does dim dwywaith yn fy marn i y bydd<br />
ymrwymiad a gwaith caled ein pwyllgorau yn parhau.<br />
Hoffwn gymryd y cyfle hwn i ddiolch i holl aelodau’r pwyllgorau trwy<br />
Gymru am eu gwaith caled yn ystod y flwyddyn, a dymunaf Nadolig<br />
llawn iawn i chi oll.<br />
Erys Hughes<br />
Pembrokeshire Ladies RABI Committee ready to ride the carousels<br />
Ball gowns and black ties, with a hint of green, were the order of the<br />
day for those attending the Pembrokeshire autumn ball. Organised<br />
by the newly formed Pembrokeshire Ladies RABI committee, under<br />
the chairmanship of Mrs Hilary Raymond, it was held at Folly Farm,<br />
one of county’s renowned tourist attractions, by courtesy of the<br />
owners and management.<br />
Following a Champagne reception almost 200 people had an<br />
hour of enjoying all the fun of the fair before sitting down to a threecourse<br />
meal, with guest speaker, RABI president Lord Plumb, and<br />
then dancing the night away. With a highly successful promises<br />
auction, the evening raised just under £7,000.<br />
The event followed the committee’s successful Hog Roast at this<br />
year's Pembroke Show.<br />
7<br />
www.rabi.org.uk
A<strong>round</strong> the country<br />
Interesting events in central England<br />
Fundraising is never easy on a continual basis, yet our committee<br />
members push on to achieve what they can despite their busy and hectic<br />
lifestyles. We are so fortunate to have such dedicated and sincere<br />
s<strong>up</strong>porters; it means so much and really does make a difference to<br />
people’s lives in the heart of the farming community. In recent months<br />
there have been some interesting events raising several thousands of<br />
pounds. We have had an art exhibition in a shed courtesy of David<br />
Toone and the Anker Gro<strong>up</strong> of Artists; spectacular raft racing at<br />
Dearnford Lake, with special thanks to Mr & Mrs Bebbington for hosting<br />
the event; and a successful metal detecting event, heralded as the best<br />
rally of the year by the National Council for metal detecting.<br />
Fay Dewey<br />
Successful metal detecting<br />
At the end of the most<br />
successful Warwickshire metal<br />
detecting event yet, NCMD's<br />
Bob Baldock auctioning a pair<br />
of walking boots while RABI<br />
Warwickshire county<br />
chairman, Richard Grindal<br />
holds the raffle tickets ready<br />
for the draw towards RABI<br />
funds.<br />
Art in a cowshed<br />
Michael Lester,<br />
organiser of the Anker<br />
Gro<strong>up</strong> of Artists’<br />
exhibition, held on<br />
Warwickshire RABI<br />
committee member<br />
David Toone’s farm at<br />
Copston Magna,<br />
presenting cheques for<br />
£1,000 to regional<br />
officer Fay Dewey, for<br />
RABI, and to a local<br />
charity, the Sunshine<br />
Club. The money was<br />
raise from the<br />
proceeds of sales of<br />
the pictures and<br />
refreshments during<br />
the three-day event<br />
held over the August<br />
Bank Holiday.<br />
The hard working art show refreshment team.<br />
Building s<strong>up</strong>port in east midlands<br />
Following an action packed autumn in the east midlands we are looking<br />
to build <strong>up</strong> our s<strong>up</strong>port with meetings to encourage new committee<br />
members in Leicestershire and Lincolnshire during November and<br />
December.<br />
In early 2009 the Derbyshire committee will be holding a bingo<br />
evening at the Bluebell in Tissington. Fun for all the family at a quiet<br />
time of year, watch out for more details on the website or contact me.<br />
Leicestershire open day<br />
Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for<br />
making me feel so welcome during my first few months with the RABI -<br />
I really feel part of the RABI family! I would like to wish everyone a very<br />
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!<br />
Milly Wastie<br />
London harvest festival<br />
The RABI day at Quenby Hall include live music entertainment<br />
An open day and clay shoot at Quenby Hall, organised by the<br />
Leicestershire RABI committee raised £1,500. For one day only,<br />
members of the general public were able to taken a guided tour of<br />
the Jacobean mansion.<br />
Simon Drury Lowe; Milly Wastie; the Venerable Dr William Jacob, Rector; and the<br />
Rt Revd John Oliver outside St. Giles in the Fields (Picture courtesy of John Deere)<br />
Leicestershire committee member Simon Drury Lowe organised a<br />
harvest festival service at the church of St Giles in the Fields,<br />
London at which the RABI honorary chaplain, the Rt Revd John<br />
Oliver preached. Simon arranged for a John Deere tractor to have<br />
pride of place outside the church as well as acquiring sponsorship<br />
for a post service bread and cheese reception from Marks and<br />
Spencer, Geery’s Bakeries and Yara UK. With the proceeds of the<br />
collection, just under £1,000 was raised for RABI.<br />
www.rabi.org.uk 8
A<strong>round</strong> the country<br />
Much planned for the south west<br />
There has been a wealth of <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> activities in the south west (see<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>round</strong> <strong>up</strong> on pages 12-15) which started with an invitation<br />
to speak at the Trinity School, Teignmouth, harvest festival service. It was<br />
great to see so many children taking an active interest in farming and<br />
agriculture. They certainly put in a lot of hard work on the various<br />
presentations and songs, and during the collection £270 was raised for<br />
RABI.<br />
Looking ahead, events are already well on the way to being planned<br />
for 2009. As a little bit of a taster, these include – outdoor music<br />
concert at Dowrich House, Devon on 3rd July; a St George’s Day dinner<br />
in Dorset, together with the Countryside Challenge Event (see elsewhere<br />
in this issue); a dinner and dance in Cornwall; and much much more.<br />
Have a great Christmas, and my thanks as ever go to all those<br />
volunteers who have helped do so much for RABI this year.<br />
Nick Toms<br />
Cornish dinner dance<br />
On Saturday 11th October the new Members’ Pavilion on the <strong>Royal</strong><br />
Cornwall Showg<strong>round</strong> played host to a fantastic dinner and dance. 188<br />
people attended and enjoyed a sumptuous meal, good company and live<br />
music. The event was s<strong>up</strong>ported by a large number of local companies<br />
and individuals, with auction lots ranging from a Duchy Originals<br />
Hamper (donated by HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of<br />
Cornwall) to a week-long stay for six in a Breton holiday cottage. The<br />
<strong>Royal</strong> Navy also came <strong>up</strong> trumps with two exciting days out – one<br />
onboard HMS Cornwall (including a trip on her fast sea-boats) and one<br />
to RNAS Culdrose. In all, over £7,150 was raised – a terrific effort by all<br />
those involved with the Cornwall county committee.<br />
The new Members’ Pavilion decked out for the RABI dinner and dance<br />
Museum and garden open day<br />
A most enjoyable Farm Museum and Garden open day was held at<br />
Teason Farm, Cardinham near Bodmin on Sunday 10th August,<br />
thanks to John and Margaret Bate who kindly opened their lovely<br />
g<strong>round</strong>s for the day. Despite mixed weather conditions, a large<br />
number of people enjoyed a fascinating glimpse at times past as<br />
well as the BBQ lunches and cream teas, which were sponsored by<br />
local producers. The Cornwall committee, with s<strong>up</strong>port on the day<br />
from the Cornwall Women's Food & Farming Union and the<br />
Cornwall Federation of YFCs, raised a total of £1,550.<br />
Returning to normal in the east<br />
What a cereal harvest we have had! But, as I write, with the<br />
potatoes now in stores, most of the drilling completed and the<br />
sugar beet harvest well under way things are returning to schedule<br />
on the farms in the east of the country.<br />
We have had a busy time in the region with lots of welly events<br />
(see <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>round</strong> <strong>up</strong> on pages 12-15). There has also been<br />
plenty of activity in Norfolk where the West Norfolk committee<br />
organised the ride a<strong>round</strong> Pynkney Estate and also held a very<br />
successful cocktail evening at Cockley Cley Hall, thanks to Sir<br />
Samuel and Lady Roberts. It was also the occasion for the launch<br />
of Norfolk’s <strong>Welly</strong> Wallmanac calendar (see page 2).<br />
Staying with Norfolk they are again selling RABI Christmas<br />
cards and calendars at the Christmas Card Shop in the Assembly<br />
Rooms, Norwich during November and December.<br />
The Mersea Island Ploughing match was a huge success thanks<br />
to glorious weather and tremendous enthusiasm; their next<br />
ploughing match is scheduled for 2010 with Essex being the<br />
home of our founder John Mechi it should be quite an event in<br />
our 150th year.<br />
Bob Archibald<br />
Beds ladies’ donation<br />
The East Bedfordshire NFU Ladies section has made a donation of<br />
£600 to RABI. Regional officer Bob Archibald received the cheque<br />
from the chairlady Ruth Simkins.<br />
9<br />
www.rabi.org.uk
A<strong>round</strong> the country<br />
Weather extremes felt in south east<br />
This year has flown by, I am not sure if this is due to ever increasing<br />
age! Despite the awful summer the autumn so far has been kind. Over<br />
the next co<strong>up</strong>le of months we have the usual Christmas fatstock shows<br />
and carol evenings and the calendar is already filling for 2009. Thank<br />
you ever so much to everyone who has helped and s<strong>up</strong>ported me over<br />
Bucks book signing<br />
As well as selling Christmas cards, the RABI stand at the Bucks<br />
County Show included a peddle tractor raffle and raised a total<br />
of £350, despite the regional officer being struck down by a<br />
virulent bug. Fortunately, as well as county committee<br />
members, regional welfare officer Sara Garner and RABI<br />
s<strong>up</strong>porter Virginia Stollery, from the adjacent NFU stand, were<br />
on hand to ensure that she survived!<br />
the year, I am very lucky to have such a lovely bunch people to work<br />
with in the south east. I hope we all have a very happy and healthy<br />
2009. Don’t forget to get your Christmas cards!<br />
Sally Field<br />
Fine weather for<br />
farm walks<br />
The farm walks at Daylands Farm, Ashurst, on two consecutive<br />
Sundays in September as part of Horsham Food Festival <strong>Week</strong>,<br />
have become annual events in aid of RABI. This year they attracted<br />
some 60 people who enjoyed an excellent farm walk, finishing with<br />
scones with cream and homemade cakes. As well as promoting<br />
RABI the event raised £250.<br />
Also present was Harry Sear, signing copies of his book Horse Tales (see page 2)<br />
together with his wife Linda.<br />
Kent harvest s<strong>up</strong>per<br />
At the annual harvest s<strong>up</strong>per in the Amos Hall, Ashford<br />
Market, 180 s<strong>up</strong>porters and their guests were entertained by<br />
the Knatchbull Jazz Band. Organised by David Chantler, David<br />
Brummell and Caroline Fletcher, with the Kent committee, the<br />
evening included an auction, the highlight of which was a<br />
picture of a woodcock painted with its pin feather by Charles<br />
Gunther, which sold for £1,200. The total raised by the event<br />
was £6,000 plus £400 from the sale of RABI Christmas cards.<br />
Visitors of all ages took part in the farm walk<br />
Ploughing match raffle<br />
The raffle, which raised £150, was a highlight of our presence at<br />
the East Kent ploughing match at Waldereshare Park where, once<br />
again, land agents Angela Hirst, thanks to Giles Hirst and family,<br />
invited RABI to join their stand and provided the prize.<br />
Bidding underway at the harvest s<strong>up</strong>per auction<br />
www.rabi.org.uk 10
A<strong>round</strong> the country<br />
Students plough<br />
funds to RABI<br />
This year the money raised from the Reading University agricultural<br />
students’ annual 48-hour charity ploughing marathon, has been donated<br />
to RABI. The marathon, which took place from the 3rd to 5th March,<br />
involved 35 students, including “male and female drivers of all abilities”,<br />
using two tractors and ploughs.<br />
In total 185 acres were ploughed on the university farm and a cheque<br />
for £2,238.56, the total sum raised, was presented to RABI by a number<br />
of the participants at the agricultural faculty in October.<br />
Sunshine on the IoW<br />
The Isle of Wight committee together<br />
with our host, NFU gro<strong>up</strong> secretary<br />
Matt Legge, and a sunny day ensured<br />
that we had a great day at the<br />
island’s annual ploughing match, at<br />
Brading, near Ryde. The sale of ‘Jolly<br />
Jars’ raised £100, Christmas cards<br />
sales made £400 and a welly<br />
wanging competition brought in a<br />
further £100. A big thank you to<br />
NFU’s Matt and Karen for all their Jars of everything and a raffle tickets for<br />
help and s<strong>up</strong>port.<br />
sale which ever way you go!<br />
Weather cancels shows<br />
Atrocious weather at the beginning<br />
of September put pay to two events<br />
in one weekend. Harvesting the Old<br />
Fashioned Way at Lavant, near<br />
Chichester, normally attended by<br />
a<strong>round</strong> 1,000 people, was a<br />
particular loss as RABI receives half<br />
of the gate takings, which last year<br />
amounted to £4,000.<br />
The Alresford Show in Hampshire<br />
had to be called off on the morning<br />
of the show and the RABI stand,<br />
which had been erected with the<br />
help of Norma Morris and Denys<br />
Ryder the day before, had to be<br />
rescued with the aid of Denys’s John<br />
Deere mule.<br />
Denys with the dismantled RABI stand<br />
safely back on firm g<strong>round</strong><br />
In Brief....<br />
Durham debut<br />
The first event organised by the County Durham RABI<br />
committee was a stand at Eggleston Show. The RABI marquee<br />
attracted a lot of interest and they raised £175.00 - not bad at<br />
all for a first effort.<br />
Regional officer in the sheep ring<br />
RABI’s presence at the annual Masham Sheep Fair<br />
extended into the show ring when the north east<br />
regional officer, Sally Conner, donned a white coat<br />
to show sheep. She described the occasion as “a<br />
brilliant weekend, wonderful weather and loads of<br />
sheep!”<br />
Dolls House Fair<br />
A dolls house fair held at Bedale School, the<br />
brainchild of North Yorkshire RABI committee chairman David<br />
Burke, attracted more than 200 people and made over<br />
£1,000. It was so successful that it looks likely to become an<br />
annual event.<br />
Cards sell well at Loseley<br />
The RABI presence at the Loseley County Fair and annual<br />
ploughing match was thanks to the organisers, Surrey<br />
<strong>Agricultural</strong> Society – who were very s<strong>up</strong>portive of RABI during<br />
last year’s foot and mouth outbreak, and to the Countryside<br />
Alliance, who shared our stand space. Christmas cards sold<br />
well during the day, raising £340.<br />
Ploughmen’s lunch<br />
The West Sussex committee, ably assisted by Sally Field, once<br />
again provided the refreshments at the Petworth & District<br />
<strong>Agricultural</strong> Society’s annual ploughing match. Held at Manor<br />
Farm, Heyshott, thanks to Richard and Sue Comber, the event<br />
attracted over 500 people and the RABI stand raised £150.<br />
Lunch in Cheshire<br />
This year’s annual Cheshire Sunday lunch was well attended,<br />
in lovely sur<strong>round</strong>ings, with guests enjoying an excellent beef<br />
roast and pleasant company. Our thanks to the hosts, Mr and<br />
Mrs J Roberts.<br />
Lancashire thank you<br />
The farming community in East Lancashire organised a hugely<br />
successful hog roast and band night in Burnley, as a thank you<br />
for the help RABI had given to a family in the area and to<br />
raise awareness locally. Our thanks to the very hard working<br />
s<strong>up</strong>porters who put on a fantastic night and raised £1,800.<br />
Lancashire harvest praise<br />
Songs of Praise service and NFU harvest service, plus a ‘Trouble<br />
at the Mill’ comedy night, in Lancashire raised £400. Regional<br />
officer Georgina Lamb expressed her many thanks to the<br />
‘wonderful’ committee for all the apple pies they cooked.<br />
Northants harvest party<br />
The Northants committee’s annual harvest party had a new<br />
venue this year, at Deene Park. Following the reinstatement of<br />
the organ at Deene harvest festival, a reception was held in<br />
the grand sur<strong>round</strong>ings of Deene Park where over 100 guests<br />
enjoyed an Indian buffet and a glass of wine.<br />
Forde Abbey <strong>up</strong>date<br />
The final accounts for the Forde Abbey Summer Fair (reported<br />
in the autumn issue of R.A.B.I. News) reveal that, despite the<br />
adverse weather conditions, a total of £12,450 was raised -<br />
slightly more than two years ago, the previous occasion when<br />
it was in aid of RABI - when the sun shone!<br />
11<br />
www.rabi.org.uk
<strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>round</strong> Up<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>round</strong> <strong>up</strong><br />
The first ever RABI <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> in October proved a great success. Large organised events and small<br />
spontaneous activities took place across the country, raising not only funds for the purchase of special<br />
items (such as stairlifts and electrically-powered vehicles) to give a better quality of life to those in need<br />
in the farming community but, equally importantly, increasing awareness of RABI<br />
Over 80 events had been<br />
registered and more than<br />
£7,000 raised for <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong><br />
activities by the time R.A.B.I.<br />
News went to press. But that<br />
number was continuing to grow<br />
with many more donations to<br />
come.<br />
Several activities hit the<br />
headlines with at least two<br />
gro<strong>up</strong>s going for world records.<br />
Bicton College, with 208<br />
students and members of staff<br />
participating, narrowly missed<br />
out on their attempt to perform<br />
the longest <strong>Welly</strong> Conga.<br />
Meanwhile, North Beds YFC<br />
produced what they hope will<br />
prove to be the largest ever<br />
pair of wellies, some 12 feet<br />
high - we wait with interest to<br />
learn if they have made it into<br />
the Guinness Book of Records.<br />
The Bedfordshire wellies<br />
were not the only large ones.<br />
Lancashire YFCs transported a<br />
nine foot welly on the back of<br />
a tractor and trailer from the<br />
bottom club of their county in<br />
Warrington to the most<br />
northern, in Lancaster, where it<br />
was welcomed with a welly<br />
party. It became renowned<br />
during its travels through the<br />
county, even getting a mention<br />
on BBC Radio One!<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> wanging proved to be<br />
the most popular activity<br />
during the week, with<br />
numerous competitions taking<br />
place. The rules tended to vary<br />
as did the wanging techniques.<br />
At the Cheshire ploughing<br />
match, where regional NFU<br />
press officer Carl Hudspith was<br />
spotted wanging a mean welly,<br />
cars parked on the wanging<br />
site meant that accuracy rather<br />
than brute force was the order<br />
of the day.<br />
The longest throw so far<br />
been notified to us was an<br />
impressive 92 feet six inches in<br />
Hampshire by Timmy Parsons,<br />
Wanging techniques<br />
The elegant approach - at NFYFC sports and speaking<br />
finals<br />
Precision pitch - demonstrated by Carl Hudspith in<br />
Cheshire<br />
Bicton Wanglers<br />
Bicton students warming <strong>up</strong> before the college wanging<br />
competition<br />
Preparing for Bicton’s world welly conga record attempt<br />
Over arm fling - seen at Dearnford Lake<br />
Reverse overhead - at Stratford-<strong>up</strong>on-<br />
Avon Market<br />
Giants wellies<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> suited<br />
North<br />
Beds<br />
YFC<br />
giant<br />
wellies<br />
on show<br />
at the<br />
East of<br />
England<br />
Autumn<br />
Show<br />
Land agents, bankers and local businessmen on a guided tour of<br />
Stratford market before enjoying a welly breakfast hosted, by local<br />
solicitors Lodders, which raised £1,130<br />
www.rabi.org.uk<br />
12
<strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>round</strong> Up<br />
Lake winners<br />
Ladies of Leisure, from Whitchurch Leisure Club, winners of the<br />
Dearnford Lake raft race<br />
John and Pat Pimlott of Park Hill Farm Beef, with their welly<br />
burgometer, who have donated £100 from their sales at the<br />
Dearnford Lake Festival<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> Sunday<br />
The Revd Rob Kelsey with members of the Eglingham Church<br />
congregation after celebrating their Harvest Thanksgiving. In<br />
addition to the collection, £5 was donated to RABI from the<br />
Vicar’s Discretionary Fund for every pair of wellies worn at the<br />
service<br />
You put the<br />
right welly in...<br />
On the dance floor at Longtown YFC’s welly dance<br />
Tractors on a rope<br />
Preparing to pull at Bicton College<br />
Taking the strain at Moulton College<br />
Disco welly<br />
Northants young farmers enjoying a welly disco<br />
Showing a welly!<br />
Entering into the spirit of the occasion at the East of England<br />
Autumn Show <strong>Welly</strong> S<strong>up</strong>per<br />
at the Wellow & District<br />
Growmore Club’s annual<br />
ploughing match. Fortunately<br />
his gun dog was stopped, just<br />
in time, from retrieving the<br />
welly before the distance could<br />
be measured. Together with a<br />
generous donation from the<br />
Club committee the event<br />
raised £250 for RABI.<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> discos, wearing wellies<br />
to work or school and<br />
decorating wellies were among<br />
the most common activities.<br />
Longtown YFC, at the very<br />
northern tip of Cumbria, pulled<br />
out all the stops and proved<br />
just how much RABI means to<br />
the local community. Their<br />
welly dance and raffle raised<br />
over £1,900 with the cheque<br />
being presented at the<br />
Longtown Auction Mart in<br />
November.<br />
Bicton and Moulton colleges<br />
both staged tractor pulling in<br />
wellies events. The winning<br />
team of nine first year students<br />
at Moulton covered the 100-<br />
yard course in 30.2 seconds<br />
and the college hopes to have<br />
raised over £400 in<br />
sponsorship. While at Askham<br />
Bryan College the welly<br />
happenings included a ‘welly<br />
sensation’ competition,<br />
involving the identification, by<br />
touch alone, of mysterious<br />
objects in wellies! Also filling<br />
wellies, but with sweets for<br />
participants to guess how<br />
many they held, were Whitby<br />
Young Farmers, with the boots<br />
as a prize.<br />
A number of welly events<br />
took place before the week<br />
proper had begun. Most<br />
notable of these was in<br />
Shropshire at the Festival of<br />
Fine Foods, Arts and Crafts at<br />
Dearnford Lake, Whitchurch.<br />
Among a variety of welly<br />
orientated activities, a<br />
highlight of the day was raft<br />
racing with several of the<br />
teams, including the West<br />
Midlands NFU pirates ably led<br />
by regional director David<br />
Collier, ending <strong>up</strong> in the water<br />
as their self-constructed rafts<br />
came apart. It is expected that<br />
the day will have raised several<br />
thousand pounds.<br />
Another pre <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong><br />
event was the<br />
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<strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>round</strong> Up<br />
Northamptonshire young<br />
farmers welly disco at a new<br />
venue in Bozeat. Over 120<br />
people boogied the night away<br />
in their wellies and collected<br />
£300 for RABI.<br />
In the parishes of Old<br />
Bewick and Eglingham,<br />
Glendale in Northumberland<br />
parishioners were invited to<br />
wear their wellies when the<br />
Revd Rob Kelsey celebrated<br />
harvest and <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong><br />
together. RABI regional officer<br />
Sally Conner gave the address<br />
and the congregations donated<br />
a total of £437 to RABI. Sally<br />
also gave the address at the<br />
Rillington (near Malton)<br />
Primary School’s harvest<br />
service, following a visit to the<br />
school the previous day to<br />
launch a day of welly activities<br />
from which they raised £51.50<br />
for RABI.<br />
The newly formed RABI<br />
committee in Co. Durham<br />
chose <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> to hold their<br />
first social event - a<br />
www.evening (wine, wellies and<br />
waffle); BBC Radio Humberside<br />
staged a welly wanging<br />
competition live on air; and<br />
Northumberland YFC held a<br />
sponsored welly walk.<br />
Weybred Hall was the venue<br />
for a ‘welly good brunch’ to<br />
<strong>round</strong> off the Suffolk RABI<br />
committee’s popular welly walk.<br />
Across the county border in<br />
Cambridgeshire there was a<br />
welly-themed pre-show dinner<br />
before the East of England<br />
Autumn Show and a fiercely<br />
contested welly wanging<br />
competition during the event.<br />
In the south west, as well as<br />
well as the activities a Bicton<br />
College, welly fever also took<br />
hold at Beaufort House, RABI’s<br />
residential home in Somerset,<br />
where the residents and staff<br />
enjoyed a ‘fun day’ with a<br />
range of welly orientated<br />
activities, raising £280.<br />
Meanwhile in Devon a welly<br />
car boot sale, which had the<br />
added attraction of some early<br />
morning Husky racing to keep<br />
the punters entertained as they<br />
set <strong>up</strong> for a hard morning’s<br />
selling, raised £550.<br />
The on-line rural dating<br />
agency Muddy Matches held a<br />
very successful <strong>Welly</strong> speed<br />
Designer wellies<br />
Rotary welly<br />
Laura<br />
Podd<br />
from<br />
Harleston<br />
whose<br />
decorated<br />
wacky<br />
wellies<br />
won her a<br />
voucher<br />
for a pair<br />
of<br />
Hunters<br />
boots at<br />
the<br />
Suffolk<br />
welly<br />
walk and<br />
welly<br />
good<br />
brunch<br />
The job of selecting a winning welly design out of more than 100,<br />
submitted by the p<strong>up</strong>ils of Northwold Primary School in Norfolk, was<br />
the unenviable task facing regional officer Bob Archibald. He chose<br />
a design by Finlay of class 2 (which may or may not be one of the<br />
above) - his prize was to have his design painted onto his wellies!<br />
The craft<br />
club at<br />
Rillington<br />
School<br />
show off<br />
their<br />
handiwork<br />
When Bob Archibald addressed the Rotary Club of High Suffolk during <strong>Welly</strong> week they<br />
all came suitable attired and, passing <strong>round</strong> the welly, collected £50 for RABI<br />
Fun at Beaufort House<br />
Becky Simister, relief cook at RABI’s Beaufort House residential<br />
home, with her lovingly made welly cake which was raffled,<br />
raising £53<br />
Beaufort House staff showing off their handiwork at the start<br />
of the welly parade<br />
Wanging on the Isle<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> wanging proved a popular attraction at the Isle of Wight<br />
ploughing match<br />
Car wellies<br />
Past RABI chairman, Rosemary Nash,<br />
sporting a natty pair of wellies while on<br />
duty at the Devon welly boot sale<br />
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<strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> <strong>round</strong> Up<br />
<strong>Welly</strong> dating<br />
Can you<br />
judge a girl<br />
by her<br />
wellies?<br />
Ready to<br />
take part<br />
in the<br />
welly<br />
speed<br />
dating<br />
evening<br />
Wellies in a fountain<br />
Members of the Bristol welly pub crawl cooling off - picture<br />
courtesy of the local constabulary<br />
Rural MPs’ s<strong>up</strong>port<br />
Zumerset wellies<br />
The Wurzells helping Milly Wastie promote <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong><br />
<strong>Welly</strong> cheque<br />
Members of Shawbury YFC used the presentation of a cheque<br />
to RABI for £457.20, which they raised from a raffle at their<br />
70th Anniversary Dinner, to promote <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong>. Chairperson<br />
Emma Bayliss said: ‘The club wanted to help the local rural<br />
based community and RABI was our obvious choice<br />
dating night at Wolvey in<br />
Warwickshire. Everyone was<br />
asked to come in their favourite<br />
pair of wellies and the event<br />
raised £400 for the RABI.<br />
Norfolk RABI committee<br />
marked the week by launching<br />
its 14-month <strong>Welly</strong> Wallmanac<br />
calendar (see page 2) and<br />
copies were available at the<br />
Norfolk Harvest Festival in<br />
Norwich Cathedral as well as<br />
at the Christmas card shop in<br />
the Assembly House, Norwich.<br />
Aptly named Mrs Wellington<br />
of Keyworth, Nottinghamshire,<br />
organised a <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> apple<br />
day in her orchard and raised<br />
some £250 for RABI from<br />
different welly and apple<br />
activities.<br />
Getting into the spirit of<br />
things a gro<strong>up</strong> of 30 young<br />
farmers and friends,<br />
encouraged by Milly Wastie,<br />
raised just under £200 from a<br />
welly pub crawl in Bristol. They<br />
even persuaded the local<br />
constabulary to photograph<br />
them in a town centre<br />
fountain. Meanwhile 12 young<br />
ladies from Rearsby YFC in<br />
Leicestershire took to the<br />
challenge of raising the <strong>Welly</strong><br />
<strong>Week</strong> profile by baring nearly<br />
all for a calendar shoot in<br />
wellies whilst posing with<br />
agricultural props. The<br />
calendars are selling for £7.50<br />
and, to add to the funds they<br />
are raising, the girls also<br />
organised a welly rummage<br />
sale.<br />
The farming press joined in<br />
the fun with Farmers <strong>Week</strong>ly<br />
promoting the week extensively<br />
and running an ‘Ode to a<br />
<strong>Welly</strong>’ poetry competition,<br />
which was judged by Pam<br />
Ayres. Farmers Guardian staff<br />
donned their wellies for work in<br />
s<strong>up</strong>port of <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> and the<br />
paper headlined its success.<br />
(The 'Ode to a <strong>Welly</strong>' winning<br />
entries and the finalists in the<br />
can be seen on the RABI<br />
website - www.rabi.org.uk)<br />
Interest is already being<br />
registered for next<br />
year’s <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong> -<br />
book the dates now:<br />
10th-17th October 2009.<br />
Seven west county MPs donned their wellies to officially endorse RABI’s <strong>Welly</strong> <strong>Week</strong>. Clockwise from top left Anthony Steen; Dan<br />
Rogerson; Mark Harper; Bob Walter; Geoffrey Cox; Gary Streeter; David Laws<br />
For more pictures visit the<br />
website<br />
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Looking ahead<br />
Dates for your diary<br />
December<br />
1st&2nd Ashford Cattle Show, Ashford Market, Kent<br />
1st&2nd Welsh Winter Fair, <strong>Royal</strong> Welsh showg<strong>round</strong><br />
2nd/3rd Carol Evenings, Lavender Farm, Isle of Wight<br />
3rd Mince pie & mulled wine evening,<br />
Woodhall Spa<br />
3rd Hailsham Fatstock Show, Hailsham,<br />
East Sussex<br />
4th Health Day, Thirsk Auction Mart<br />
5th Charity auction, Carlisle.<br />
5th&6th <strong>Royal</strong> Smithfield Christmas Fair, Bath & West<br />
showg<strong>round</strong><br />
10th Christmas concert, Swinton Park,<br />
North Yorkshire<br />
2009<br />
January<br />
16th<br />
30th<br />
February<br />
8th<br />
19th<br />
21st<br />
Bucks Farmers Ball, Aylesbury Civic Centre<br />
Shropshire Pub Quiz<br />
Rural Day at Hereford Race Course<br />
Farmhouse Breakfast at Stoneleigh Park.<br />
Venison Feast, Burpham Village Hall,<br />
West Sussex<br />
25th-31st Farmhouse Breakfast <strong>Week</strong><br />
(see website for <strong>up</strong>dates on<br />
tbc<br />
Events organised by or for RABI (in bold) and<br />
shows where there will be an RABI presence.<br />
March<br />
tbc<br />
April<br />
26th<br />
RABI breakfasts venues a<strong>round</strong> the country)<br />
Hot Gospel Choir, Brandesburton Church<br />
Singing Farmers concerts<br />
(dates & venues tbc)<br />
Suffolk Sunday Lunch<br />
Psychedelic sheep set<br />
for Smithfield<br />
Thanks to RABI there will be an unusual<br />
splash of colour in the sheep lines at<br />
the <strong>Royal</strong> Smithfield Christmas Fair<br />
this year. The predominantly white<br />
(with a bit of black) lambs will be<br />
joined by a pen of life size fibreglass<br />
sheep, each colourfully painted with a<br />
unique design.<br />
Commissioned in 2006 by Art in Rural<br />
Gloucestershire (AIRinG), the SheepScape<br />
flock of 55 individual fibreglass sheep<br />
originated in the Forest of Dean and for<br />
the past two years have been attending events across the county. AIRinG has kindly<br />
allocated 25 of the ‘sheep’ to RABI for fundraising, with the proceeds raised being shared<br />
between the two charities.<br />
Of the seven SheepScape sheep appearing at Smithfield, it is planned to auction three<br />
at the Meat Traders dinner on the Friday evening and three the following day, in the main<br />
ring during the sheep sale.<br />
The RABI Charity Sheep Class, to which exhibitors enter a single lamb and donate the<br />
auction proceeds to RABI, has attracted an entry of 12. In recognition of the sheep<br />
exhibitors’ s<strong>up</strong>port for those in need in the farming industry, it is planned to inaugurate<br />
the presentation of a perpetual trophy for the class at this year’s show.<br />
We are extremely grateful to the <strong>Royal</strong> Smithfield Club, AIRinG, and the sheep exhibitors<br />
who are s<strong>up</strong>porting RABI in its work to help those in need in the farming community.<br />
For details of the Christmas Fair, on 5th and 6th December at the Bath &<br />
West showg<strong>round</strong>, visit www.bathandwest.com/show_show_8.php<br />
Following the SheepScape sheep’s debut at the <strong>Royal</strong> Smithfield Christmas Fair other<br />
members of the RABI flock will be helping to raise funds and awareness at various<br />
events across England and Wales over the next 12 months.<br />
To see the complete SheepScape flock visit www.ewetube.co.uk<br />
Dorset Challenge Event –<br />
September 2009<br />
Had enough of hog roasts?<br />
Done enough dances?<br />
Bored of beard shaving?<br />
Fancy a bit of a challenge?<br />
May<br />
18th<br />
21st<br />
June<br />
7th<br />
8th<br />
26th<br />
July<br />
12th<br />
18th<br />
25th<br />
Norfolk Golf Day<br />
Sentry Clay Flush, Chatteris<br />
Clay Shoot, Steventon Hill Farm, Oxfordshire<br />
Golf Am Am, Driffield<br />
Surrey Gala Evening, Newdigate, Surrey<br />
London 10k run<br />
Picnic in the Park, Whithurst Park, West<br />
Sussex<br />
Skittles Evening, Daylands Farm, West<br />
Sussex<br />
Then RABI might have something for you in 2009!<br />
RABI is constantly looking for new ways of raising money, whilst at the same time<br />
providing entertainment, experiences and memories for its s<strong>up</strong>porters.<br />
Dorset RABI committee are organising a Countryside Challenge event in September<br />
2009. It is based on the popular triathlon format but with a strong rural twist.<br />
Taking place on the stunning Sherborne Castle Estate, participants will undertake three<br />
main events – kayaking on the castle lake, a long bike ride through rural Dorset and a<br />
run through the estate’s wood and parkland. On top of this, there will be a number of<br />
“mini” challenges, from plant and object recognition through to cooking a ‘survival’ type<br />
meal.<br />
On the Sunday there will also be a farming-themed “Its-a-knock-out” style competition<br />
before the winners are announced and people head home, full of new tales to wow workcolleagues<br />
and friends alike!<br />
If you would like to find out more, or to register interest then please<br />
contact Nick Toms, regional officer for the south west on 01752 893502 or<br />
email Nick.Toms@rabi.org.uk .<br />
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