Club of the Month

Name of Club:

Dyffryn Tanat Young Farmers Club

Number of Members:

87

Where you meet:

Llanrhaeadr Village Hall

Describe your club in 3 words:

Friendly, enthusiastic & supportive

Favourite Club Night Activity:

We hold club nights every other Wednesday evening and these involve a mix of activities, trips, talks and meetings. Our new members evening is always a great start to our club nights where we love seeing new and familiar faces get involved in active games. Some of our favourite club nights this year have involved food tasting! This included talks from our local butcher Izzy, Helen from Cwm Fedw shoot and Emma and Cath from Get Jerky Wales. Another firm favourite within our club programme is our annual mini rally. This is a great way to get a range of ages involved in pre-rally competitions.

Fundraising accomplishments:

During Summer last year we held two charity luncheons following club members’ weddings. First we had the ‘Dyfnant Olympics’ where we raised money for Lingen Davies. Secondly, we held the ‘Gilman Gameshow’, raising money for Wales Air Ambulance. Each year we hold our annual carol singing and this year we raised £1250 for British Heart Foundation and Severn Hospice. This was a fantastic achievement and we were proud to have raised this amount.

Your work within the community:

This year is Dyffryn Tanat’s 90th year so it was decided that we would give back to our community by completing 90 acts of kindness across the young farmer’s year. We value the support our community gives us in making our club a success. This has been extremely rewarding for all of those involved. The help we have given has been valued as we have received some amazing feedback from those whom we have helped in the community. Some of our acts of kindness have included helping make the local park safe again, delivering mince pies to the elderly, tidying the cenotaph for Remembrance Day and performing at local events. These acts of kindness have been a fantastic way to remind every one of the importance of simply offering a helping hand.

Favourite competition:

Dyffryn Tanat enjoy entering all of the competitions but this year was particularly a big year for the club in the pantomime festival. It’s a competition where a range of members get involved and it gives all ages a chance to mix and have fun along the way. Many of our members throughly enjoy singing, dancing and acting. Our pantomime ‘Cinderella and the Lost Welly’ came second in Wales and we then got to perform at National level. These experiences are some that we will never forget. The county rally is another firm favourite in the YFC calendar for Dyffryn Tanat. This year we were part of the organising committee which involved lots of preparation alongside other clubs. There’s always something for everyone to have a go at doing at the rally and it’s a good social too!

How do you use the Welsh Language?

With the club being close to the border, we have a mix of the Welsh and English language. The more confident Welsh speakers are good at encouraging, modelling and supporting the use of Welsh in less confident speakers.

Any other fun facts or slogans etc.:

Even though we are a very big club we are very welcoming and friendly. In Dyffryn Tanat we believe that there is something for everyone. Everyone is always encouraged to try their best. Having formed 90 years ago this year, we are going to be celebrating in style with a black tie dinner. We are welcoming past and present members and friends of the club along to celebrate the success of the club 90 years on.