Members of Campbeltown Young Farmers Club are preparing to get stuck in to another year of socialising and supporting good causes.
The Kintyre group is one of 72 clubs that are part of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs, Scotland’s largest rural youth organisation for and run by young people, with 3,500 members across the country.
Young farmers clubs aim to give young people access to new opportunities and experiences, from arts and crafts to sports, as well as practical and agricultural skills including cattle and sheep dressing.
The 2024/25 Campbeltown Young Farmers Club committee was officially installed at the group’s annual general meeting in Campbeltown’s Argyll Arms Hotel on Friday March 29, where the following office bearers were appointed: chairman: Charles Turner; vice chairman: Andrew Millar; secretary: Imogen O’Hanlon; vice secretary: Claire Soudan; treasurer: Kathryn Semple; and vice treasurer: Jenny Semple.
Other committee members are: Fraser MacPhail, Rhona Earnshaw, Heather Millar, Jamie McKerral, John Pirie, Robert McDonald, William McLean, Erin Ralston and Caryn Kerr.
Fraser MacPhail and John Pirie have taken on the role of club leaders, Claire Soudan is responsible for the group’s social media accounts and Heather Millar has been appointed sports representative.
At the meeting, members discussed their 2023/24 activities and came up with suggestions for the coming year.
A group spokesperson said: “We had a busy year. We are an active club, meeting most weeks, with a variety of activities every month.
“We hosted fundraising events, including our annual tractor run which raised £3,886 for the Beatson Cancer Charity.
“We also held stock judging competitions, hosted a farm tour and had a stall at Kintyre Agricultural Show.
“Social events included our annual dinner dance, exchange weekends and going out for lunch and dinner. We also entered the Campbeltown Christmas Lights switch-on parade and the RNLI raft race and enjoyed golfing, a car treasure hunt, a day-trip to Gigha, as well as water slide, beach and barbecue nights. These are just some of the things we get up to throughout the year.”
The club hosted a new members night in the Argyll Arms Hotel on Thursday, where they welcomed 16 new faces to the group.
In a bid to break the ice and give the new recruits a taste of the fun club members regularly enjoy, the group played games including the cereal box challenge, mummy wrap game and the chubby bunny marshmallow challenge.
Their spokesperson added: “Thank you to the Argyll Arms Hotel for hosting our meetings and dinners and to Peninver Village Hall for hosting our sports nights.
“We are always looking for new members, so anyone aged 14 and over who would like to find out more, or ask us questions, is welcome to message us on Facebook or get in touch with any committee member.”
The next event in the club’s fundraising calendar is a prize bingo night at Argyll Bowling Club on May 2. Keep an eye on the group’s Facebook page for more information closer to the event.
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