YFC cash crisis

[lloyd]

Going back to the start of the thread, perhaps 'Hereford's 'comments
are correct that some of the modern day YFC members are more akin to the yuppies of the 80s than yesterday's farming grind.I think part of the antics of AGMs of the past
was escapism from everyday toil and depressed earnings.
Isn't part of the problem with the YFC finances the utter waste of money by
national ?I remember my brother being offered expenses to which he declined
but couldn't believe the amount of members who did otherwise.

 

[kfpben]

Going back to the start of the thread, perhaps 'Hereford's 'comments
are correct that some of the modern day YFC members are more akin to the yuppies of the 80s than yesterday's farming grind.I think part of the antics of AGMs of the past
was escapism from everyday toil and depressed earnings.
Isn't part of the problem with the YFC finances the utter waste of money by
national ?I remember my brother being offered expenses to which he declined
but couldn't believe the amount of members who did otherwise.

Not in my experience. The majority of my local club are farm workers or those working in related rural industries.

Yuppies have much more cool things to do than sell cow muck for charity, play rounders and decorate barns for fancy dress discos!

I wouldn’t say expenses are a waste of money - if you’re expecting someone from Cornwall to attend a weekend of meetings in the midlands several times a year the least any organisation should do is pay their fuel to get there etc.

 

[lloyd]

Not in my experience. The majority of my local club are farm workers or those working in related rural industries.

Yuppies have much more cool things to do than sell cow muck for charity, play rounders and decorate barns for fancy dress discos!

I wouldn’t say expenses are a waste of money - if you’re expecting someone from Cornwall to attend a weekend of meetings in the midlands several times a year the least any organisation should do is pay their fuel to get there etc.

The trouble with expenses is the money has to come from somewhere .
In other words small struggling clubs have to pay national more levy ,why
should they?
The situation is where it's at because of money mismanagement,
i saw this at club level where the previous chairman and secretary put
in full expenses and left our club penniless.It was going to be dissolved as a club but a few of us sponsored it ourselves with our own money and a few years later it was winning the county shield.
If your asked to do something at national it should be at your own expense
or let somebody else do it.

 

[JWL]

Didn’t you have a good County Organiser that cut his teeth and learned his craft in Cornwall from the great Mick Alsey. Or am I confusing it with another county. Malcolm Cox was his name if my memory is correct.

Probably a different county, we had a Molly, can't for the life of me remember her last name, who was brilliant then when I was chairman we employed a new one who I ended up marrying, she's still organising me from the other end of the table now.

 

[An Gof]

Probably a different county, we had a Molly, can't for the life of me remember her last name, who was brilliant then when I was chairman we employed a new one who I ended up marrying, she's still organising me from the other end of the table now.

Sorry my mistake, memory isn’t what it was

 

[Timbo]

Going back to the start of the thread, perhaps 'Hereford's 'comments
are correct that some of the modern day YFC members are more akin to the yuppies of the 80s than yesterday's farming grind.I think part of the antics of AGMs of the past
was escapism from everyday toil and depressed earnings.
Isn't part of the problem with the YFC finances the utter waste of money by
national ?I remember my brother being offered expenses to which he declined
but couldn't believe the amount of members who did otherwise.

National put a sizeable amount of money into property and investments neither of which have yet to give much of a return.

 

[kfpben]

The trouble with expenses is the money has to come from somewhere .
In other words small struggling clubs have to pay national more levy ,why
should they?
The situation is where it's at because of money mismanagement,
i saw this at club level where the previous chairman and secretary put
in full expenses and left our club penniless.It was going to be dissolved as a club but a few of us sponsored it ourselves with our own money and a few years later it was winning the county shield.
If your asked to do something at national it should be at your own expense
or let somebody else do it.

So if you’re from a poor background you shouldn’t be able to stand for office?

Doing a good job as National Chairman would cost someone £5,000-£10,000 a year at a guess. Most of that would be in mileage. There’s certainly no swanky hotels, unless you count my couch when the NFYFC chairman slept on it after speaking at our county AGM.

Should all MPs do it for free? If so we’d be back in the 18th century where only the monied elite could afford to stand.

 

[lloyd]

So if you’re from a poor background you shouldn’t be able to stand for office?

Doing a good job as National Chairman would cost someone £5,000-£10,000 a year at a guess. Most of that would be in mileage. There’s certainly no swanky hotels, unless you count my couch when the NFYFC chairman slept on it after speaking at our county AGM.

Should all MPs do it for free? If so we’d be back in the 18th century where only the monied elite could afford to stand.

What do you call someone doing a good job?
The start of this thread was discussing the mess the organisation
are presently in ,it is supposed to be a voluntary organisation ran for charitable
purpose .
If somebody is genuinely from a poor background then perhaps they should
be sponsored by the organisation rather than blanket expenses for everyone.
Alot of the people I saw from this county claiming expenses were not poor
by any stretch of the imagination and some have taken on opportunities
outside of YFC where a similar gravy train exists .
My view was not an attack on the genuine minority but an observation of others
who milked the system ,apologies if you are one of the genuine ones.

 

[yellow belly]

I like @yellow belly am a product of Lincolnshire YFC. If we lose Yfc we lose a big chunk of the social side of the countryside. You learn by doing! not entirely from books. How to organise meetings, events, dances, and so on. To have the courage to do public speaking, stock judging and so on. I also saw other parts of the country not just for a P**s up but to see other parts of the industry, shows and so on. Yes, you do not always agree, I can also remember some very good debates in the conference room of Agriculture House, Woodhall Spa. May be a name change would be a good idea? I have many friends I made in YFC who were not directly involved in farming. I also have many friends in YFC that have gone on to run businesses connected with farming like sprayer manufactorers and CaseIH dealerships. I have one pal who was a member of our local club and is now a Vice president of CNH at world level and head of its Far East division. We lose YFC at our peril. I did suggest 2 or 3 years ago that they could run there national weekend on a Showground, slightly away from prying eyes! Camping, holding there meetings and seminars in the showground buildings, our showground has even got sports pitches next door at the ag college.
Our club even had a clubroom within a building which also housed the local farmers club and the local NFU office but that has all changed now.
In some parts of the world it has the term rural youth used maybe that would help the image?
WB

Changing the name would lose all the past
when I was in Australia their name was rural youth
it had no identity

the name YFC has an identity when I was in it radio 1 DJs were every week end plugging it
this was the case in rescent years radio 1 DJs at a yfc gig every week

 

[yellow belly]

so where are these rural youth clubs ?

I have vaguely heard of “rural youth” but know nothing more than that ?

as I said earlier, it’s mainly sport / pubs / camp draft / rodeo type events here for socialising amongst young people ( & old )

Apart from agri / political farmer organisations ( like your NFU I suppose ? ) or farmer agronomy / info sharing groups, I don’t know of any organised rural focussed “social” groups that are the equivalent of yfc here

I had 6 months with the rural youth in nsw and sa in the 1980s was a shadow of the organisation it had been before that and was struggling nsw had only one club that resembled a yfc club in an English town
most were run by parents ( which is one of the biggest turn offs for the 15 to 25 year olds any where )
the young nationals was the go to youth group in many towns

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

My understanding is that National are pretty much haemorrhaging money at the moment. So said they have been out of pocket for years, they're seriously pushing us now for membership or they may well not be around much longer. Wales, counties and clubs may well be lucky to have savings to fall back on if need be.

The levy increase was a big debate 2 years ago. It increased £5 for our members, juniors are now £25, intermediates and seniors are £30. I'm sure county subsidise the true cost by almost 50%. My personal thoughts were it should have increased gradually over the years rather than just one jump all of a sudden.

There was a breakdown of it between insurances, etc and the levy to National was a large percentage. This had sparked some anger amongst some clubs as it was questioned with the loss of AGM and more red tape and hassle than ever, what we were actually getting for our membership.

The social aspect of YFC is obviously a huge part of why people join, absolutely no two ways about it. We have been struggling to gain new members, especially juniors as well as keeping existing members keen. Meeting in person is always the first good set up to sort people to get into competitions etc.

However since the pandemic, lockdown, then local lockdowns, another lockdown and social distancing rules, things have been made harder than ever. Everything is virtual and online and membership is extremely low. I'm chairman of my club this year, which is also my last year technically (I will be wanting an extension as they have done this year for last years members!) As well as county vice chair, ready to be county chairman next year..... Being a challenge and like a part time job would be an understatement!

I don't believe YFC needs a rebrand however. The message is still very much ''You don't have to be a farmer to be a young farmer!''

 

[Scholsey]

I don't believe YFC needs a rebrand however. The message is still very much ''You don't have to be a farmer to be a young farmer!''

Just need a schoffel

 

[An Gof]

My understanding is that National are pretty much haemorrhaging money at the moment. So said they have been out of pocket for years, they're seriously pushing us now for membership or they may well not be around much longer. Wales, counties and clubs may well be lucky to have savings to fall back on if need be.

The levy increase was a big debate 2 years ago. It increased £5 for our members, juniors are now £25, intermediates and seniors are £30. I'm sure county subsidise the true cost by almost 50%. My personal thoughts were it should have increased gradually over the years rather than just one jump all of a sudden.

There was a breakdown of it between insurances, etc and the levy to National was a large percentage. This had sparked some anger amongst some clubs as it was questioned with the loss of AGM and more red tape and hassle than ever, what we were actually getting for our membership.

The social aspect of YFC is obviously a huge part of why people join, absolutely no two ways about it. We have been struggling to gain new members, especially juniors as well as keeping existing members keen. Meeting in person is always the first good set up to sort people to get into competitions etc.

However since the pandemic, lockdown, then local lockdowns, another lockdown and social distancing rules, things have been made harder than ever. Everything is virtual and online and membership is extremely low. I'm chairman of my club this year, which is also my last year technically (I will be wanting an extension as they have done this year for last years members!) As well as county vice chair, ready to be county chairman next year..... Being a challenge and like a part time job would be an understatement!

I don't believe YFC needs a rebrand however. The message is still very much ''You don't have to be a farmer to be a young farmer!''

Keep at it @Ali_Maxxum when this is over people will remember people like
You who went the extra mile to keep the club going. Good luck

 

[Jackall]

I used to go to yfc socials when my ex wife was a member. I’m a farmer but never got involved with other events. Know a lot of local farmers but never socialise with them since divorce as I find they mix within the agricutural circle which I want to be away from when not working. YFC ,NFU and AHDB need to realise that 10 years time farming is going to be in a different world.

 

[farmer james]

My understanding is that National are pretty much haemorrhaging money at the moment. So said they have been out of pocket for years, they're seriously pushing us now for membership or they may well not be around much longer. Wales, counties and clubs may well be lucky to have savings to fall back on if need be.

The levy increase was a big debate 2 years ago. It increased £5 for our members, juniors are now £25, intermediates and seniors are £30. I'm sure county subsidise the true cost by almost 50%. My personal thoughts were it should have increased gradually over the years rather than just one jump all of a sudden.

There was a breakdown of it between insurances, etc and the levy to National was a large percentage. This had sparked some anger amongst some clubs as it was questioned with the loss of AGM and more red tape and hassle than ever, what we were actually getting for our membership.

The social aspect of YFC is obviously a huge part of why people join, absolutely no two ways about it. We have been struggling to gain new members, especially juniors as well as keeping existing members keen. Meeting in person is always the first good set up to sort people to get into competitions etc.

However since the pandemic, lockdown, then local lockdowns, another lockdown and social distancing rules, things have been made harder than ever. Everything is virtual and online and membership is extremely low. I'm chairman of my club this year, which is also my last year technically (I will be wanting an extension as they have done this year for last years members!) As well as county vice chair, ready to be county chairman next year..... Being a challenge and like a part time job would be an understatement!

I don't believe YFC needs a rebrand however. The message is still very much ''You don't have to be a farmer to be a young farmer!''

Good luck with it all, I hope you get an extension, I loved the competition side of YFC and missed when I turned 26, as county vice and then chairman.

FJ

 

[Rowland]

Back in my day in the 90's memberships were on the decline and some clubs closed altogether. Much of our time was spent tiring to raise funds for county and national levies. I recall someone tiring to find out what the head honchos got paid ,they never did . As for AGM"s its a good job there wasn't phones back then.