CRUWYS Morchard Young Farmers are a lively and young club from the Exe Valley Group of Young Farmers’ Clubs (YFC) and although they are solely made up of junior members under the age of 18, they continue to be one of the most active clubs in the county.

At last year’s County AGM, the club walked away with two prestigious awards. The first of which being the club that had taken part in the most YFC ‘Skills for Life’ courses. This training programme gives young people the opportunity to learn different skills and try something new - anything from first aid to cookery!

Cruwys Morchard’s Club Secretary, Jess Kingdom, was also awarded the Veronica Ley Award for the best Devon YFC member under the age of 21. Aged just 17 years old, Jess has now taken on the role of Club Secretary for the third year and is determined to put together yet another packed programme for their members.

Jess says: “We have lots planned for the next year and ‘Skills for Life’ courses will continue to play a big part of our programme. Before Christmas we were busy wreath making and we’re currently organising lots more courses, including car maintenance, cake decorating, flower arranging and even circus training!”

New-found skills that the club has learnt during this programme has also transferred into success within YFC competitions. Last year the club went all the way to compete in the National Young Farmers’ Cookery finals.

They have also recently competed in the Devon YFC Disco Dancing competition, where several teams from across the county produced a five-minute disco dance routine. A troop of 11 Cruwys Morchard members made up their team and they were awarded 2nd place at the county finals.

Jess adds: “I was really proud of everyone that performed at the county dance finals. Thank you to Sue Arthurs, one of our club advisory members, who choreographed the routine for us. We can’t wait to go through to represent Devon at the South West Area round in March!”

Recent local events organised by the club included a Christmas tractor run, as well as a bingo night. The club has no plans to slow down any time soon, as they are also organising another tractor run for the summer!

To join your local YFC club, take a look at the Devon YFC website – www.devonyfc.co.uk.