Although charities themselves, Young Farmers’ Clubs across Devon fundraise for other local and national charities throughout the year, with charity work being a key part of many club programmes. In the last YFC Year, clubs across Devon raised a total of £135,700 for charity!

Axminster Young Farmers have a rich history in charity fundraising. In 2023, the club received the national trophy for the club that raised the most external funds per member across all of England and Wales.

This year, the club has no plans to stop their fundraising efforts and their first charity cheque has already been presented. Following a successful Christmas tree collection and charity quiz, they presented Axminster Hospital League of Friends with £1,262.

Nicola Johnson, Axminster YFC’s Chairman, said: “Supporting local charities is incredibly important to us and it’s so nice to be giving back to the local community. We wanted to donate to Axminster Hospital league of Friends because the charity has supported several family members of Axminster Young Farmers in the past.”

They also recently held a charity Big Breakfast in aid of two more local charities – Flamingo Pool and Pippins Community Centre, raising a whopping £1,965 in just one morning!

South West Farmer: A packed hall for Axminster YFC's Big Breakfast. Image: Devon YFC

Nicola added: “The club is well-known for cooking a good breakfast and the whole club came together to cook a total of 261 breakfasts for local people. We had our own members, as well as advisory members, helping out on the day and we couldn’t have done it without all of their support. It was a serious team effort.”

For the rest of the year, the club will be supporting local cancer charities, as well as Cancer Research UK, after the cancer diagnosis of one of their members. They have other charity events planned including a charity head shave, cream tea, auction and more.

Nicola adds: “The club is determined to keep up the momentum and raise as much as possible over the rest of the year.

“Charity work not only brings the club together, but is also bringing our local community together. It feels great to be supporting very worthy causes, but it’s so much fun too! It always feels so good to be giving something back and it never feels like a chore.”

Raising money for Cancer Research UK, the club has also organised a Calving Bingo. One of their members has 90 cows to calve and each cow has been allocated a number. Everyone taking part in the bingo will be added to a WhatsApp group and kept up-to-date with the calving. When each cow calves, you cross off the corresponding number on your bingo card!

If you would like to support Axminster YFC in their fundraising efforts, visit the Axminster Young Farmers Facebook page: www.facebook.com/axminsteryoungfarmers.