Club of the Month

Name of Club:

Fishguard YFC, Pembrokeshire

Number of Members:

68

Where you Meet:

Neuadd Fathri / Mathry Village Hall

Describe your Club in 3 words:

Active, Fun & Talented

Favourite Club Night Activity:

It’s too difficult to pinpoint one specific activity, therefore, trips and joints club nights are always highlight. A trip to Judgement Day in Cardiff, Wild Lakes Aqua Park and the Golf Driving Range certainly stand out for our members. We also had a brilliant joint club night with Hermon YFC where we headed to Newport Beach for a game of rounders, a dip in the sea and some Morfa Milk Milkshakes.

Fundraising Accomplishments:

Over the years, we’ve raised large sums of money for various charities. For the year 2022-2023, our chosen charity is the Welsh Air Ambulance. In addition to this, we’re in the process of rebuilding our club hall which means our fundraising efforts also go towards this project. We hosted a very successful Christmas and Easter bingo this year raising nearly £1400 between both events.  We raised £900 in our concert showcasing our talent performance and our eisteddfod acts. We also organised a pub quiz which was fantastically supported by our local community and raised £454 during the evening. As well as these excellent fundraisers, we have also raised money for our chosen charity and club hall by organising a coffee morning, carol singing and a Christmas sponsored dog walk. Fishguard Show and the Dance is a big fundraising accomplishment for us. Last year, over £12,000 was raised from the day, therefore, we hope the same will happen this year on Friday, August 4^th. We look forward to organising many more fundraising events to support the Welsh Air Ambulance and Fishguard YFC Hall Project in the very near future.

Work Within the Community:

During this competing year we have worked hard to support our community. We started the year by launching our sport shoe appeal where trainers were collected to be reused and recycled. 43 pairs of trainers, astros and rugby boots were collected and donated to local schools and clubs; Ysgol Wdig, Ysgol Glannau Gwaun and Fishguard & Goodwick RFC. These shoes potentially helped 43 families and ultimately enabled young people to participate in sport.

Over the Christmas period, we collected a number of items from members, leaders, parents and friends of the club to make ‘Hampers for Emergency Services’. These hampers were made to give thanks to our emergency services in our local community. 9 hampers were donated to the ambulance, fire, police and lifeboat stations, as well as the health centre and vets.

We were invited by a local school, Ysgol Casblaidd to help out with their Ground Force Day. We got stuck in with painting, fence repairs, willow weaving and pallet recycling to give the school a little tidy up.

During the Easter weekend, gift bundles were delivered to 5 care homes in our community. Members made chocolate nests and easter rocky roads in club and flowers were included.

More recently, a community litter pick was organised around Mathry and a group of members took part. This was to help Mathry Community Council and to do our bit for the NFYFC ‘YFC Operation Green’.

During Rally practises, we collected dog and cat food from members which has been donated to the Pet Food Bank by Cariad Pet Therapy. The idea of supporting this was to meet the needs of those who are doing all they can to support and stay with their pet.

We have also helped during our local County Urdd Eisteddfod where we stewarded the doors for the day, and donated a trophy on behalf of Fishguard YFC to our local secondary school (Ysgol Bro Gwaun) to be given in their prize evening to a student who studies GCSE Agriculture. Additionally, we do our bit to help our club hall. We’ve been there painting the new build and when ready, we’ll be back to do some more. Bus shelter cleaning and fire station painting is next up in our calendar.

Favourite Competitions:

The stand out competitions for us as a club is the County Eisteddfod and most recently the Tug of War competition. We had a junior, ladies and men tug of war team compete at our rally and we’re very proud of our junior tug of war team who will be representing the club and county in the Royal Welsh Show for the second time in a row this summer.

How do you use the Welsh Language:

We are a bilingual club which we are very proud of and the Welsh language can always be heard within our club. The majority of our members are fluent Welsh speakers, with others using Welsh as their second language. Due to this, the Welsh language is constantly being used within club activities from club meetings, informal conversations, whilst competing, in community events and on trips. It also plays an important part on our social media platforms; we always strive to make a comment or post in Welsh. Rydym yn browd iawn bod ein clwb ni’n defnyddio’r Gymraeg yn rheolaidd!

Club Slogan

“Am y bathodyn”

Images: