Under 30s Chairman

Chairman’s Jottings

It has been a strange few months for the Under 30s, as expected we’ve seen almost all our planned events cancelled and have brought in several online drinks events. We still hope to hold our usual November Dining evening and will be hosting some smaller dinners during August, September and October. Having not yet picked a menu or organised a seating plan it will be nice to finally do that as Chairman. On a personal level switching from office working to being home based has certainly been an experience. Fortunately, I’ve still been able to engage with the UK and Scottish Agriculture Bills from a distance and it was great to see the public getting behind the NFU food standards campaign. As I write harvest has begun or is due to start throughout the UK, it’s a hectic time for farmers and with the roads getting busier as lockdown lifts and more people continuing to access the countryside, possibly for the first time, it’s important we all stay safe. The Under 30s members have been busy adapting to their new normal and its been great to hear about how some have adapted to selling direct to consumers or partnering up with other local producers to supply their local communities. Or the trials and tribulations of sourcing local labour for picking. The pandemic has shown that we can adapt to change quite quickly and the demand on supply chain seems to have opened the consumers eye to domestic self-sufficiency. Time will tell how permanent this behavioural change will be. Since lockdown began the Under 30s have held two virtual drinks events with more planned and we hope to be able to organise some virtual farm walks. In a reminder that Covid-19 is still present we unfortunately had to postpone our online Cocktail Making Master class due to our mixologist needing to isolate for two weeks. So, the write up for that event will be in the next Journal. Please visit our “The Farmers Club U30s” Facebook page to keep up to date. I look forward to seeing you all at our virtual events and soon back in the Club.

Contact Eleanor for more information: Eleanor Kay Edinburgh Under 30s Chairman 2020/21 07964 909108 eleanorkay@live.co.uk

Under 30s Virtual Drinks and Meetings

THE Under 30s have quickly pivoted to online events having hosted two drinks events in the “virtual” Club bar since lockdown began and with plans for more. The first event occurred on what would have been our Spring Dining Evening where we had hoped to hear from Christopher Price of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. We are looking forward to welcoming him to the Club later in the year instead. Members were invited to join the committee for an informal get together and a chance to catch up. We held an impromptu agricultural quiz, ably hosted by Jeremy Hawkins and Alice Whitlow, in which many of us were put to shame by immediate past-chairman Scott Hayles who demonstrated his eclectic, or possible eccentric, knowledge range. The attendance for such an unusual event was brilliant, but we quickly learnt how tricky it can be to have flowing conversation on Zoom. Nevertheless, it was an evening filled with laughter and set the wheels in motion for further events. The Under 30s Committee, much like Main Club, has also switched to online meetings. We have held two, almost, full attendance committee meetings to discuss the plans for future events at the Club and online. We have lots of plans already and are very excited to be able to return to Club as soon as larger groups can meet. We have also begun discussions on the next Jill Willows Scholarship. As many of you will know the RASC biannual conference was cancelled which left the U30s without new scholars for 2020. We will continue to work on an interim Scholarship for 2021 before the 2022 RASC conference. In early July we usually have our annual Cocktails on the Terrace event, this instead became an informal online drinks party. The Zoom call was well attended with people dipping in and out as the evening went on. Smaller but changing groups allowed us to have a fantastic mix of conversation and it was great to catch up with members who had relocated to the family farm for lockdown. Early arrivals were treated to an unplanned farm walk with Ben Barton and his stunning Aberdeen Angus cattle. It has been fantastic to keep in touch with members through Zoom, WhatsApp, Houseparty and other channels. However, the committee and Chairman are desperate to get back to arranging dinners and farm walk weekends. We’re very excited to launch our Autumn Dining Series thanks to inspiration from the Club’s Summer Series Events. We hope you’re keen to return as well!

Eleanor Kay

Under 30s Chairman

Alice Hind

Pre-Prep Teacher at Parkgate House School Under 30s Vice-Chairman