## Secretaries Report 

Good Evening Madam President, Miss Chairman, fellow members and supporters. I would like to thank all of you for attending tonight to conclude the 85[th] year of St. Columb Young Farmers. 

We started our year with our member, Tom Retallick being elected as the new as the Chairman of the County Federation. The first St. Columb County Chairman since Nicola Chegwidden, now Lynes’ reign in 2008/09. 

As you have already heard, the club chose “Man Down Cornwall” as our chosen charity for the year, who work tirelessly to support and promote help for Men’s mental health across Cornwall. A topic that I’m sure has impacted every one of us in this room tonight, whether it is personally, a family member, one of our close friends or a fellow young farmer. I hop that the money donated tonight will have a large impact on this charity and all those it supports as well as all of our members now having a greater awareness of the impacts of mental health and the support that is our there for everyone to access. 

Now onto the year that we have had! One of our first club events was the Dinner and Dance, held at the hotel Bristol on the 22[nd] October 2022. I’m sure you will all agree it was a fantastic evening of food, speeches, awards and lots of singing with our new friends from Bridgend Male Choir! 

The Bonfire night was upon us, kindly hosted by Richardsons’ and Tom Retallick at Higher Denzell Farm. Pasties, sparklers and a large bonfire warmed us all after the bad couple of days of weather we had. 

The competitions year then kicked off with the Indoor Sports first round. Held at Bodmin College, St. Columb members came out in force to compete and resulted in 1[st] place in East round, and through to the Finals. The Indoor Sports Final was then held at Newquay Sports Centre! Excellent work put in by all members and very narrowly missed out on first place, due to a bit of a thrashing in the Quick Cricket by Probus! 

As a club we entered lots of individual and club classes in Cornish Winter Fair. We placed 2[nd] in the Mini cubical – “The reign of Queen Elizabeth II”. Here the Battle of the Planet barleys between Jacob and Dan Martyn began, with Jacob taking first place in the Planet variety, although Dan did take a first for his Graham variety. Maddy Tabb’s prize cooking apples came in a respectable second. A big well done to Molly and Richard Rundle for their successes in the Stock Judging. 



We held our Christmas Auction once again in the Silver Ball pub in St. Columb. A huge thank you must go to those businesses, members and supporters that kindly donated Auction lots as well as those who came along to bid for them. I must request that in the future Bonnie make numerous lots of brownies, so that the rest of us get a chance to try them, Big Geoff! I am proud to announce we raised just over £2,500 on this evening! A big thank you must go to Nathan Osborne for his auctioneering on the night and Sophie Olds, who is here with us tonight, for her organisation behind the scenes, recording successful bidders and taking payments. 

Lots of Members entered Truro Primestock again with various cookery, handicraft and corn classes entered, with Dan Martyn winning Best Wheat and another prize for best Example of Grain! 

The Christmas Meal was held on the 8[th] December at Trevisker Garden Centre. With more than plenty to go around, the carvery went down well followed by a lovely selection of desserts and seconds! 

To get us further into the festive spirit, we dusted off the hymn sheets and headed out into the cold to go Carol Singing. Piled in the back of Ben Cole’s beaters truck, we had a quick warm up before heading to our first stop! Everyone enjoyed the evening fuelled by Mulled wine and warm food kindly put on by Mrs. Chapman and Mr and Mrs. Barrett. 

The Christmas Carol Service held in Truro Cathedral is an annual favourite of mine and many others. This year in a particularly packed-out cathedral members of St. Columb were once again formed part of the choir. I don’t think I’ll ever forget Jacob Old’s voice echoing “IT’S CHRISTMAS” around the rafters. 

The County Ball this year was held at the Eden Project. A fantastic night, with a lovely backdrop, great food and lots of singing on tables! 

On Saturday 4[th] Febraury, at the Hall for Cornwall, in Truro, audiences gathered to watch the first, and final, Cornwall Cabaret rounds. St. Columb had three acts entered – all hoping to make the County Team! First up was “Work From Home” performed by Tom Retallick and Becky Howard, of Wadebridge YFC, who spun around on office wheelie chairs and had the whole audience in stiches! Next up was “M4D N355”, a Madness themed, fast paced Dance routine choreographed by Jan Chamberlain. 12 St. Columb members, Amy Perks, Emma Harris, Lorna Oatey, Shannagh Clemens, Toby Treweek, Lauren Pilsworth, Louise Barrett, Eleanor Carlton, Molly Rundle, Billy Vincent, Tom Retallick and Cait Willmington worked 



very hard to make this a clean and impressive routine and it went down a treat with the Audience! Our final act was “Jacob Cash”, with a live performance of “Folsom Prison Blues” sung by Jacob Old, and accompanied by jail girl back up dancers – this got the audience up on their feet and clapping along! Jacob Old won “Best Actor” of the night, “Work from Home” won best act, “M4DN355” came second place and all three acts made it into the County Team! The Senior Member of the Year competition was also held on this day, with private interviews with the judges as well as on stage questions to be answered. Tom Retallick came away with First Place! 

In February members took position outside of Mole Valley, St. Columb on a busy Saturday to sell some homemade cakes and advertise dung sales and delivery. The cake sale went exceptionally well with over £300.00 being made! The bagged dung was slightly slower on sales so Shannagh, Jacob and Charlie went off door knocking and delivering dung which had slightly more success. 

In March, Members descended on Weymouth to partake in the SWA weekend. Lots of fun was had and the first outing for the Cornwall County Cabaret Team was had! With tough competition in the South West, Cornwall came away with Second Place! The SWA rounds of the Senior Member of the Year competition was also held, with Tom Retallick holding onto his winning streak and coming away with First! The Cabaret Team and Tom were off to the National Finals! 

On the 31[st] of March  we hosted our second large fundraiser. Held at Indian Queens Working Men’s Club the function room was packed out with all tables filled and more squeezed in! The evening was kindly hosted by Steve Barrett, and from entry to the quiz, the excellent raffle and teas, coffees and cakes, we raised just over £1000 on the night! A massive thank you to all those that helped make the evening a success! 

Then there was the return of the famous WOTNOT! 10 St. Columb members: Tom Retallick, Cait Willmington, Josh Ellery, Harvey Ellery, Shannagh Clemens, Amy Perks, Nathan Osborne, Grace Lott, Lorna Oatey and Jacob Old all undertook the challenge of walking 100 miles, in 5 days, from Helensburgh (near Glasgow) to Edinburgh! A very tough but rewarding 



week and full of memories to last a lifetime! As a team, over £17,000 was raised for the county charities! 

The National Entertainments finals were held in Leamington Spa. The Cornwall County Cabaret Team put on their best performance to date, despite many having sore feet from the WOTNOT! A very disappointing 5[th] Place was awarded which does not give credit to the hard work put in by all of the cast. A huge well done to Tom Retallick who came joint 3[rd] Senior Member of the Year Finals! 

Held at Blabel Gate Farm, by kind permission of the Roberts Family, and excellently organised by Becky Howard. Members participated in the stock judging, sporting activities, bale painting, tractor driving and safety and the static entries. A fantastic day which was topped off by St. Columb being announced as the Overall Winners! Very proud day for the club. 

Then came around the Royal Cornwall Show. With a theme of iconic bands and artists, Our Katy Perry Cubical came to life in the tent alongside all the other icons and a fantastic amount of static entries and floral arrangements. The cubical came 13[th] which was disappointing but the judging was very dubious all around the tent! Members also participated in stock judging and came away with lots of Trophies! 

Over 150 current members, past members, family and friends descended on Treyarnon Bay Farm to celebrate the 85[th] Year of St. Columb Young Farmers with an Afternoon Cream Tea Party. Plenty of cakes, teas and coffees and cream teas were had, with speeches, a raffle and members, old and new, exchanging stories and memories of the club. A huge thank you must go to our President Mrs. Sam Old for hosting us in such a beautiful location and to all the members who helped with the event. 

This years County Rally was held at Pencrennys Farm in Talskiddy, St. Columb by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Retallick. A great day with lots of competitions from butter churning to the slippery pole, and a marquee filled with static entries. A huge well done to all the members who participated and entered classes and St. Columb came away with 



Second Overall and lots of Trophies too! Well done to the Ladies TOW team who came 1[st] again! 

St. Columb Ladies TOW team hosted a TOW competition at Treb’s Shed with many teams participating, even some from Devon too! This was followed by our club party fundraiser, a Shrek themed party,  in which we ran our own bar and took entry on the door. Many thanks to all the advisory who helped on the evening and quickly came to terms with the drinks the youngsters drink these days! A very successful fundraiser, with over 150 people in attendance and over £6,000.00 taken on the night. 

We have had many successful fundraisers throughout the year, from Shannagh’s Calendar which has already sold over 500 copies to some very successful raffles at the Quiz and Cream Tea, we have raised a fantastic amount for charity and club this year. 

Tom’s final challenge as county Chairman saw us attempting to climb the Three highest Peaks in Scotland, England and Wales, all within 24 hours. 3 members, Tom Retallick, Josh Ellery and Cait Willmington undertook this challenge and I’m pleased to say the team managed it within the 24 hours – just! Raising over £5,000 as a team for the County Charities I think its safe to say, I’ve done enough walking now thanks Tom! 

A huge well done to those members who made it to national finals this year. Molly Rundle recently represented Cornwall at the Malvern Show in the Junior Floral arrangement – a fantastic achievement and great experience for the future. Jess Thorpe also represented us at the Great Yorkshire show as part of the county team for Dairy Stock judging, which did fantastically well and came 3[rd] place. 

The Ladies Tug of War Team also proudly represented us and Cornwall at the National finals in Tenbury show. The team made up of Lorna Oatey, Ali Warne, Emma Harris, Maddy Tabb, Beth Bosley, Amy Perks, Shannon Wimberley and Lucy Tabb came away with the fantastic achievement of 3[rd] Place, which is testament for all the many hours of hard work training and shouting from Maddy! 

I would like to congratulate the rest of the committee on an excellent year we have had with lots of hard work put in, from Lauren, Amy and Harriet producing a great programme, to Jacob Old working very hard to organise and sort the accounts for the club. 



I would like to thank the club for electing me as secretary this year. We have raised a fantastic amount for Charity and had a very successful year in competitions! On Tuesday we were awarded 3 trophies at the County AGM – The Hawkins plate, for winning the most points in all sections this year, the Cornish mutual trophy for YFC attendance, efficiency and participation and the hosts club cup, awarded to the club considered the best host club throughout the year which we won joint with Wadebridge YFC. Despite all these highs and achievements, I have had moments where I have been disheartened by the club. Going forwards into this new year with our new committee I would like to urge every member to support their committee, encourage other members and help when help is asked for. It is no mean feat to be at the helm of the club to try and to make it the success that it is but a little help and kindness really does go a long way. We have had a fantastic year of successes but imagine how successful we could be with the power, hard work and talents of nearly 70 members that we currently have! I would like to wish the best of luck and success to the new committee elected tonight. 

Thank you. 

Caitlin Willmington 

Secretary of St. Columb Young Farmers 2022-2023 



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||2023||2022||
|---|---|---|---|---|
||£|£|£|£|
|Income|||||
|Donations|32||||
|Club clothing|1,915||1977||
|Subscriptions|3,490||2,510||
|Dinnerand dance|5309||1,887||
|Christmas meal|1,057||1,348||
|Club nights|645||909||
|County Ball|1,154||880||
|SWA|2,740||5,790||
|Members’ Fund Raising and events|12,601||6,194||
|Interest received|4||||
|||28,947||21,494|
|Less: Revenue Expenditure|||||
|Dinnerdance|4,473||1,933||
|SWA|3,699||5,010||
|Hall hire|167||36||
|Club clothing|1,823||3,583||
|Subscriptions|3,876||3,198||
|Christmas Meal|1,078||1,418||
|Club Nights|724||-||
|Cabaret|747||||
|County ball|1,218||960||
|Fundraising|2,288||-||
|RCS cubicle|266||-||
|Boris’s do|356||501||
|Club events|||2,407||
|Panto|||250||
|Training|240||||
|CFYFC|27||-||
|Donation - Cornwall AirAmbulance|1,500||-||
|Accountancy|240||||
|Club expenses|189||275||
|||22,911||19,571|
|Excess ofIncome (Deficit) over|||||
|expenditure foryear||6,036||1,923|





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