Welcome to the latest online newsletter for RABI volunteers.

In this October/November edition, we have news covering the RABI Conference, our 2024 award winners and a lovely Q&A with the Norfolk committee reflecting on a recent ploughing event.

If you have any feedback or stories you’d like to share with us, please get in touch at volunteering@rabi.org.uk.

Thanks again for all you do for RABI.

RABI Conference 2024

It was lovely to see lots of volunteers at the RABI Conference on October 17. The feedback from the day was overwhelmingly positive, with people enjoying the time to network, share experiences and get up to speed on what is happening across RABI.

In the morning, we heard from a range of speakers, including Caron Whaley (RABI Director of Services) who touched on the challenges facing farming people, the impact of our services and the importance of prevention alongside crisis support. For more information on our services, please read our quarterly update for committees.

We were also joined by Stephanie Berkeley, Manager at the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), who gave a fantastic presentation about their work and the power of collaboration. You can access her slides here.

The afternoon focused on recognising the contributions made by you as volunteers and local committees. Read more about our award winners in the section below.

Following the conference, we also held our AGM. You can find a copy of the Trustees Annual Report for 2023 on our website.

RABI Award Winners

Conference was a great opportunity to shine a light on some of the individuals and groups who have gone above and beyond in their support for RABI and farming people.

This year’s winners were:

• Lord Don Curry of Kirkharle (Emyr Wigley Outstanding Contribution Award) for his proactive championing of farming, the mental health of farmers and support for RABI and other farming charities.

RABI Chair John Stanley (Left) and Lord Curry (Right)

• Rhiannon Mercer from the Carmarthenshire Committee (Breaking New Ground Award) for her ‘Tea, Cakes and a Taste of Fashion’ event, which reached over 120 people and engaged new audiences.
• The East Yorkshire Committee and East Riding Young Farmers Club (Community Impact Award) for their ‘BaConversation’ event, which provided a social space for farmers of all ages to get together and tackle isolation.
• Caroline Eggerton, Richard West and Ginny Stollery from the Bucks Farmers Ball Committee (Regional Fundraising Award), who held their 100th ball in aid of RABI, raising over £220,000 since 1999.
• Cath Houghton from the Clwyd Committee (Volunteer of the Year) for throwing herself into everything RABI has to offer and her ‘why not?’ attitude.

Top Left: Rhiannon Mercer, Top Right: Ellie Jackson from East Riding YFC, Bottom Left: Caroline Eggerton, Richard West and Ginny Stollery from the Bucks Farmers Ball Committee, Bottom Right: Cath Houghton

A huge congratulations to all our worthy winners and nominated finalists. To read more about them, please click here.

Support for Treasurers – Your Input Please

Also, in response to your feedback, we are improving the guidance for both new and existing Treasurers. This will include information on working with Bankline and managing local accounts.

We would really like your input. We’re looking for 4 to 6 of our current Treasurers to attend two one-hour online sessions. Anyone willing to help would need to be present at both sessions for consistency. These will be held on the following dates and times:

• Monday 11 November, 6-7 pm
• Wednesday 27 November, 6-7 pm

Once the guidance is ready, we will share it with all our Treasurers and Chairs in early 2025.

If you’re interested, please contact volunteering@rabi.org.uk.

Winter Wellbeing Appeal

Our Winter Wellbeing Appeal was launched at the recent Farmers Weekly Awards. The fundraising appeal is in aid of both RABI and RSABI to support many more in the farming community this winter. We will be promoting the appeal on our social media channels and our website. Please help to share the appeal at your events and via your networks.

Keeping Your Data Safe

From the end of November, we will be contacting all volunteers to check that the information we hold on you is up to date and that you have given consent for various communications from RABI. We hope to speak to as many of you as possible by phone and will contact you by email as a follow-up. Thanks in advance for your help with this.

Mental Health Training

A further reminder to take advantage of our fantastic one-day mental health training. This is free to all volunteers and helps with normalising the conversation on mental health. It can be done online or in person.

Please contact volunteering@rabi.org.uk if you are interested. 

Volunteering in Practice

Q&A with the Norfolk Chair – Thomas Baines-Sizeland

The Norfolk RABI Committee

Who is involved in the Norfolk Committee?

We are a fairly small and compact committee (6 people) with various skills and experiences across the ag sector. I work as a Ruminant Nutritionist & Technical Sales Manager. We also have a Managing Director and an Ag Sales Manager from two machinery companies, two farmers and an environmental consultant. 

What have you been up to in 2024?

To date, including the Ploughing Match in October, we have hosted three events in 2024. We opened the calendar with our annual quiz night in April, attracting a wide range of supporters, from agricultural recruitment consultants and machinery dealers to land agents and vets. In June, we hosted an all-new garden party at Swannington Manor, offering guests canapes and fizz while they explored what was once called the “most romantic gardens in East Anglia”. In December, we will repeat our Christmas gathering at The Goat Shed, a new event in 2023 that proved to be a hit in the local farming community.

Tell me more about the Ploughing Match. What did it involve?

By kind permission of the Gay family and SAS Agri Ltd, the inaugural Norfolk Ploughing Match was held at Church Farm, Mautby, near Great Yarmouth. Across three classes (vintage trailed, mounted and reversible), 20 competitors entered, and many more attended on foot. Local machinery dealer Ben Burgess kindly attended with a dyno machine, allowing owners to test their tractor’s horsepower, and valuable funds were raised by committee member Sally Mitchell and her husband John, teaching members of the public to plough in a drawing match on their 1953 County Fulltrack CFT Crawler.

Was it a success?

The event was a significant success. Aside from raising over £750, which was fantastic for our first match, the event was an opportunity for like-minded individuals, many new to RABI, to get together from across the rural community of East Norfolk. We received positive feedback from a range of competitors and spectators, and one retired farmer thanked Dameon (lead organiser) for lifting his mood following many months of depression due to the loss of his wife.

Would you do it again?

Definitely. While our committee largely exists to raise funds, this event allows us to support the valuable work of RABI in a new way.

What are your plans for 2025?

In addition to the four-event calendar from 2024, we may look to organise one or two coffee mornings, subject to support from corporate sponsors.