PICTURES: Caithness Young Farmers hand over £15,000 to charities after centenary year
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Caithness Young Farmers have "set the bar pretty high" after raising £15,000 for good causes during their centenary year.
The Scotland-wide movement began in Caithness in 1923 and a 100th anniversary committee marked the milestone by organising a series of events over the past 12 months.
It culminated in cheques for £5000 each being handed over to the Young Farmers' three chosen charities at an event in the Norseman Hotel in Wick on Wednesday night.
Anniversary committee chairman Sandy Douglas said afterwards: “I didn't think it was going to be that amount of money. It's testament to the Young Farmers and the general public in Caithness.
“There's going to be a lot of 100th anniversaries coming in the next 20 years – different clubs, different areas – and I think we've set the bar pretty high. And it all started in Caithness.”
Committee secretary Avril Henderson said: “We're delighted with what we've raised. We've celebrated 100 years of Caithness Young Farmers in style.”
The charities supported by the Young Farmers are Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI), Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) and MFR Cash for Kids.
“It went to a members' vote at a meeting," Sandy explained. "We had five or six worthy charities and we thought it would be better to pick out three. Those were the three that won the vote."
Shirley Hastings, RSABI case officer for the Highlands and Islands, gave a short talk about the range of practical, emotional and financial support provided by the agricultural charity.
SCAA volunteer Gavin Geddes outlined the work of the air ambulance charity, explaining that it has carried out more than 5500 tasks since it started 10 years ago. It costs £5.8 million a year to keep the service going, with all money coming from donations.
A representative from MFR Cash for Kids was unable to attend, so Sandy gave a brief account of its work. The grant-giving charity supports children who are vulnerable, come from disadvantaged backgrounds or are living with an illness or disability.
A centenary ball at Wick Assembly Rooms in November was a high point of a busy programme of activities marking the first 100 years of the Young Farmers. At the end of September a commemorative stone was unveiled at the old Lanergill school, where the first Young Farmers club in the country was formed in 1923.
There were two festive tractor runs across the county, in December 2022 and December 2023, while other activities included a quiz and a Young Farmers rally.
"It has been well supported by everybody,” Sandy said of the year-long programme. "We had fantastic support for the tractor run as our last event."
A stand-out memory for him was the audible gasp from onlookers when the commemorative stone was unveiled at Lanergill. A Caithness flag was pulled away to reveal an inscription along with the current and old Young Farmers logos.
"I was the only person that saw the stone before it was unveiled," Sandy recalled. "I happened to be passing when they were installing it, and I got it covered up then and nobody saw it until the flag was dropped on the day – just that gasp made it all worthwhile.”
Summing up his feelings about the year's events as a whole, he said: "Very proud, quite emotional at times – and to pull off the dinner dance was quite a feat."
Avril added: “When we had our first meeting, a stone was mentioned then. From the very word go, we wanted a stone at Lanergill that everybody could see."
The movement is led by the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs. There are 72 clubs across Scotland, including three in Caithness – Bower, Forss and Halkirk.
