YFC cash crisis

[An Gof]

the main problem is what do you get I return for your membership I only used to pay so I could go to skegy area weekend and agm other than them there was no benefit most of the meeting were pretty boring so only went down on a Monday eve for a pint or 2 after the meeting had finished

And therein lies part of the problem. Too many that just want a social membership but who put little if anything into the organisation. In effect they want it all done for them.
we always worked on the principle that the more you put into YFC the more you got out of it.
Some fantastic opportunities at learning life skills in YFC that largely don’t exist elsewhere for young people. Such a shame when
It is lost. What other organisations give such experience in public speaking, conducting meetings etc etc.
YFC did a huge amount for me. It effectively got me my first job when I left college and the experience in public speaking and how to Chair and conduct meetings has proved invaluable in my later life.

 

[Timbo]

And therein lies part of the problem. Too many that just want a social membership but who put little if anything into the organisation. In effect they want it all done for them.
we always worked on the principle that the more you put into YFC the more you got out of it.
Some fantastic opportunities at learning life skills in YFC that largely don’t exist elsewhere for young people. Such a shame when
It is lost. What other organisations give such experience in public speaking, conducting meetings etc etc.
YFC did a huge amount for me. It effectively got me my first job when I left college and the experience in public speaking and how to Chair and conduct meetings has proved invaluable in my later life.

Exactly what I was trying to type - majority now don't see the future benefits that the very small investment will bring them.

 

[Katarina]

Given the scale and member

And therein lies part of the problem. Too many that just want a social membership but who put little if anything into the organisation. In effect they want it all done for them.
we always worked on the principle that the more you put into YFC the more you got out of it.
Some fantastic opportunities at learning life skills in YFC that largely don’t exist elsewhere for young people. Such a shame when
It is lost. What other organisations give such experience in public speaking, conducting meetings etc etc.
YFC did a huge amount for me. It effectively got me my first job when I left college and the experience in public speaking and how to Chair and conduct meetings has proved invaluable in my later life.

The problem lies at the top of the Organisation . Not at grassroots level. Not everyone has the confidence, interest or motivation to stand up in front of other people to do stock judging and public speaking.
I believe every member has given something to the benefit of there own club and country in some shape or form.
No one should point the finger and blame the members themselves.

 

[Timbo]

No one should point the finger and blame the members themselves.

There is an aire of casual amungst members which has spurned from how organisation has become from the TOP

 

[Bongodog]

This is a crisis affecting lots of organisation at present, with no face to face meetings for the past 8 months and none in the forseeable future, its very hard to get people to pay their subscription. Even worse there are members leaving at the top end and no one coming in to replace them.
At least YFC has the benefit of a good age range so the potential loss from becoming too old isnt to great, youth groups such as brownies, beavers. cubs etc only cater for a 2 year age range and are looking at having lost 50% of members by the time they get going again.

 

[yellow belly]

the main problem is what do you get I return for your membership I only used to pay so I could go to skegy area weekend and agm other than them there was no benefit most of the meeting were pretty boring so only went down on a Monday eve for a pint or 2 after the meeting had finished

With out the national and regional organisation the bigger events will not happen
i got involved above club level after I went on an exchange to put a bit back in
3 of us got the first Skegness week end going with Much opposition making a profit for the region and going to events
for me it started at club level on a social basis then getting roped into competitions and ended with involvement at national
organising the club at local level learning what to do from those who went before

every few year since the 1960s the yfc in many counties has had the debate what do we get from the county region or national I know of 3 times since then that lincolnshire yfc has had knife votes from the clubs should they continue

with out the county region and national
I would have stayed on the farm
no Attendance at south west area weekend playing rugby for the club when working in the area for a year
no international exchange for a year
no skegy weekend ( saw what could be done in another area 10 years before organising the first )

raising the money for the club subscription was always a challenge we collected it by offering discount for members at the must attend social function no membership card no discount
in the day the social events made a lot of money for charity

 

[yellow belly]

There is an aire of casual amungst members which has spurned from how organisation has become from the TOP

the members need to have the debate within the club about what they may lose
Lincolnshire had it several times in the 1970s 1980s and 1990s
as Tanner shields ( national secretary at the time ) used to say the debate needs to be won on the basis of the arguments

 

[henman]

YFC membership £25 Pembrokeshire ,My sons are in yfc it seems a lot more serious all computations like stock judging public speaking entertainments practice,no beer, no dances, not enough fun. 35 years I was chairman of Craven Arms yfc one of the wildest clubs in Shropshire 85 paid up members who all went to the national agm not for the computation's but for beer and leg over if your lucky.

 

[Hfd Cattle]

And therein lies part of the problem. Too many that just want a social membership but who put little if anything into the organisation. In effect they want it all done for them.
we always worked on the principle that the more you put into YFC the more you got out of it.
Some fantastic opportunities at learning life skills in YFC that largely don’t exist elsewhere for young people. Such a shame when
It is lost. What other organisations give such experience in public speaking, conducting meetings etc etc.
YFC did a huge amount for me. It effectively got me my first job when I left college and the experience in public speaking and how to Chair and conduct meetings has proved invaluable in my later life.

It's where I learnt to 'public speak ' etc .
It makes me cringe when you go to a wedding and the best man gets up and mumbles along giving his speech and it sounds like a parrot talking with its head in a bowl of soup .

 

[An Gof]

YFC membership £25 Pembrokeshire ,My sons are in yfc it seems a lot more serious all computations like stock judging public speaking entertainments practice,no beer, no dances, not enough fun. 35 years I was chairman of Craven Arms yfc one of the wildest clubs in Shropshire 85 paid up members who all went to the national agm not for the computation's but for beer and leg over if your lucky.

How can you be Chairman for 35 years? They kick you out at 26

 

[An Gof]

It's where I learnt to 'public speak ' etc .
It makes me cringe when you go to a wedding and the best man gets up and mumbles along giving his speech and it sounds like a parrot talking with its head in a bowl of soup .

Exactly When Club Leader I always tried to encourage all members to do some public speaking, even giving stock judging reasons is a form of public speaking. I used to tell them that almost all will need the experience to help them at least once in their life such as at their wedding.
The life skills and confidence that YFC can develop in youngsters that is not part of the formal education curriculum is invaluable in my opinion.
The lessons I learned at YFC in conducting meetings have served me well at National, European and even International level.

 

[michael N123]

Never did appeal to me the yfc not many of my farmer friends actually went I did go to a few of there party’s and it was like 100 kids You never normally see in town being sick and acting like dickheads

 

[Bongodog]

YFC membership £25 Pembrokeshire ,My sons are in yfc it seems a lot more serious all computations like stock judging public speaking entertainments practice,no beer, no dances, not enough fun. 35 years I was chairman of Craven Arms yfc one of the wildest clubs in Shropshire 85 paid up members who all went to the national agm not for the computation's but for beer and leg over if your lucky.

Times however have changed, back in your day which is probably similar to mine you joined a club to get drunk and a dose of clap, these days 18 year olds go to University and pay £9k a year for the same experience.
40 years ago only around 10% of people went to University, now its around 50%, for potential YFC members its probably a fair bit higher. Youths tend to sever their links with such things when they "go away" and don't reconnect 3 years later.

 

[lloyd]

Never did appeal to me the yfc not many of my farmer friends actually went I did go to a few of there party’s and it was like 100 kids You never normally see in town being sick and acting like dickheads

I dont know which town you used to go to but Hereford on Friday
night 15 years ago was exactly like that on Commercial rd.

 

[lloyd]

It's where I learnt to 'public speak ' etc .
It makes me cringe when you go to a wedding and the best man gets up and mumbles along giving his speech and it sounds like a parrot talking with its head in a bowl of soup .

My brother used to do well in the debating competitions ,trouble
is he still thinks he's in one when there's a simple decision to be made on the farm.

 

[J 1177]

And therein lies part of the problem. Too many that just want a social membership but who put little if anything into the organisation. In effect they want it all done for them.
we always worked on the principle that the more you put into YFC the more you got out of it.
Some fantastic opportunities at learning life skills in YFC that largely don’t exist elsewhere for young people. Such a shame when
It is lost. What other organisations give such experience in public speaking, conducting meetings etc etc.
YFC did a huge amount for me. It effectively got me my first job when I left college and the experience in public speaking and how to Chair and conduct meetings has proved invaluable in my later life.

I was lucky I was in a club full of a group of members my age that wanted to compete, the amount of competitiveness was unbelivable.
I personally did everything from flower arranging and ladies fashion (Yes the pictures are still doing the rounds at county). To efficiency with safety at royal show level and tug of war (God I loved that)
And I wouldn't say I was the one that took part in everything. I can remember cheering my mate on in his sequined shirt and trousers doing ballroom dancing in the winter gardens at Blackpool. The most unlikely ballroom dancer you'd ever know.
But and it's a big but we partied hard, never missed a doo and a pee up. The highlight of it all, the reward so to speak of the hours and days of hard work was the AGM, let loose and love it.
I cherish the memories of yfc and the AGM, getting rid of it was a MASSIVE own goal.

 

[Tubbylew]

When I was in yfc about 15 years ago a good part of the ag side had largely disappeared, particularly the practices in stock judging, ploughing, etc. Ploughing marathons and trips to smithfield show were a thing of the past, the village hall dances were a lifeline, but now they have finished, there isn't much left. Holding any kind of position at local level was such a thankless task, it was almost impossible to get anyone to do I'm glad I had my day before safeguarding, DBS checks, GDPR etc. as I can only imagine what a nightmare that is. Transport was a big issue when i was chairman, the parents didn't want to have to cart the younger members around and the seniors didn't want to either, so they didn't bother with the meeting and went straight to the pub instead, so the only reason for them to pay the sub was to go on the agm. I'm afraid the end of the agm was the end of the financial viabillity of YFC. I'm not sure I'll encourage my kids into it, if it's still going, I think they'd be better off playing sports. Sad really, like a whole load of things in life that seem to be getting worse.

 

[Johnnyboxer]

Tanner Shields was a good National Secretary

Old school with member interests at heart

 

[farenheit]

I completely get that people got on so well with Yfc but personally the last thing i ever wanted to do when I was younger is hang around with other farmers. The job is parochial enough!

 

[Hfd Cattle]

I dont know which town you used to go to but Hereford on Friday
night 15 years ago was exactly like that on Commercial rd.

Still is !