News

Christmas Card - A Sell Out!

A big thank you must go to Theresa Eveson for kindly allowing RABI to use one of her photographs for our main Christmas card in 2011.
The card called Are Ewe Looking at us? was a big sell out selling nearly 4,000 copies. RABI Cheshire chairman, Norman Lawson was on hand to present Theresa with a bronze sheep at the Cheshire farmhouse breakfast event at Cheerbrook Farm recently. A small token to express our thanks to her.

It is always difficult to come up with a range of designs that appeals to all but this one certainly hit the mark!

Cheque Presentation from Farmers Guardian

Danusia Owiosy, Farmers Guardian Features Editor attended the Cheerbrook Farm breakfast event in Cheshire recently to present regional officer, Georgina Lamb with a cheque for £10,000.

A fantastic amount which was raised at the very successful Farmers Guardian Charity Gala. A big thank you must go to Danusia and everyone at Farmers Guardian for their support.

BBC in Search for New Disabled Presenters

Disabled but with an active mind, an ability to communicate and keen to appear in front of the camera? Then you could be what the BBC is looking for.

BBC Vision is launching a nationwide search for new disabled presenting talent to be offered a unique training opportunity. ‘PresentAble’ is a new BBC scheme which will focus on discovering and developing new presenters with disabilities.

They are looking for people with “real passion and knowledge who are great communicators and have the potential to build lasting careers in the media”. Successful applicants will receive some of the best training the BBC has to offer, be exposed to a host of industry contacts, and have a great chance to develop a career in presenting.

An initial online application process opens in December and closes at the end of January with selected applicants invited to screen-tests held in six UK cities – Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast, London, Salford and Bristol. A final group of six to ten will receive bespoke training from the BBC Academy in late spring/summer 2012.

This could be a real opportunity for many of those involved with RABI, whether as supporters or beneficiaries, to learn new skills to convey knowledge and experience of the rural sector to a wider audience.

If you, or someone you know, might be interested in applying for PresentAble go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/news/presentable.shtml where online applications will open in late December 2011.

Farmers Guardian Charity Gala

The Farmers Guardian Charity Gala Evening, held at Rivington Hall Barn in Bolton, Lancs, raised more than £10,000 for RABI. The ticket only event welcomed more than 350 people for an evening of entertainment, fun, food and music raising a staggering amount along the way.

At this year's National Federation of Young Farmer's annual convention, Farmers Guardian raised £1,500 for RABI after the newspaper printed exclusive T-shirts in exchange for a £1 donation from members. With this in mind, Farmers Guardian, RABI and Young Farmers joined forces once again to host a fundraising evening in a bid to raise thousands for the charity.

Among the acts which delighted the full house were Winmarleigh YFC, with their hilarious rendition of the Village People's YMCA; Salmesbury member, Harriet Gerrard with her acoustic set; the Straight Outta Dorset boys, who were one of FG's finalists in their Tractor Factor competition; Welsh young farmers and this year's Tractor Factor winners, Llion Vaughan and Richard Lewis; and The Texels, a quintet representing young farmers from Shropshire.

During the interval the audience was served a traditional Lancashire hot-pot buffet after which well-known auctioneer Joe Worthington rattled through 20 auction lots and helped notch up another £3,000 for his efforts.

Following the live performances DJ and compere for the evening Paul Dela Ross took over while everyone danced the night away until the early hours of the morning.

RABI regional officer Georgina Lamb, who co-organised the gala with Farmers Guardian features editor Danusia Osiowy, said: "It was an absolutely fantastic night and people were still ringing up to talk about it three days later."

Danusia observed that at the beginning of the project she had said that charity fundraising was a huge part of the farming industry. She said: "The way people pulled together to make the night happen is testament to this."

"Thank you to everyone who showed great spirit by getting involved and thank you to each and every person who bought a ticket and supported this flagship event. It exceeded our expectations."

 

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