Spring success!

Well done to all RABI committees & volunteers on a fantastic start to fundraising in 2025.

In the first three months, we have had some great events, ranging from the Gloucestershire Farmers Ball, Staffordshire Dinner (with guest speaker Guy Martin), Ludlow Race Day, Oxfordshire Christchurch Dinner and Devon Dawlish Dinner, to numerous farmhouse breakfasts (East Sussex, Kent, Warwickshire, Cumbria, East Yorkshire and Glos again), community-based quizzes and bingos, clay shoots, open days, cheese and wine – the list goes on!

Here are a few photos from a very busy spring. We estimate that over the events we have raised over 180k for RABI. Thank you!

Top row: Gloucestershire Farmhouse Breakfast, Bottom row: Warwickshire Breakfast

Gloucestershire Farmers Ball

Making a difference for farmers

All of the above helps RABI reach and support more farming people. Here are a few headlines stats from the last year about our services:

• RABI has now funded 10,600 individual counselling sessions between the launch of this service in November 2022 to the end of 2024.
• There has been a 46% annual increase (2024 vs 2023) in registrations to RABI’s Click & Chat platform.
• By the end of 2024, 850 people have received RABI’s mental health training. 50% of this training was to organisations, including government agencies, Ag societies, vets, farm secretaries and insurance companies.
• We have had good interest in our programme to offer sponsored memberships to The Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH). 30% of applications have come from individuals in Somerset & North Yorkshire. Please do share amongst your networks.
• In 2024, we supported 12,000 people via our two cost-of-living campaigns, the Return to School and Winter Fuel Grants, with many recipients going on to access further RABI services. On its own, our 2024 Winter Fuel Grant campaign webpage had over 35,000 views.

Volunteer Survey 2025 – your feedback and next steps

A huge thank you to the 217 volunteers who took part in this year’s survey – a fantastic 41% response rate! The results show positive progress, with 87% of volunteers recommending RABI (up from 80%) and 89% agreeing they enjoy volunteering.

More volunteers (82%, up by 10%) also feel clear about their role and believe RABI communicates well with them (67%, up by 13%). Importantly, we are also welcoming new faces, with 10% of respondents having joined in the past year.

However, there are areas to improve. While volunteers appreciate the training available, only 62% feel they receive the right level of support. Volunteers also want more updates on the impact of their work and greater opportunities to connect with one another.

What are we doing in response to your feedback? (four areas below)

• Connecting & sharing experiences

We are keen to trial a couple of opportunities to help committees share ideas on local fundraising and events.

The first of these is planned for Wednesday 21 May from 7-8 pm. If you would like to attend, please join via Zoom on the day by clicking on the button below.

If you have a particular question or idea you’d like to share ahead of the event, please email volunteering@rabi.org.uk.

• Guidance & training 

We are continuing to improve the guidance, support and training available to volunteers. NEWLY ADDED to our website is guidance to support committee–led fundraising events. Please look and come to the session on 21 May to share your own ideas and tips!

• Volunteer recruitment

This April, we are launching our first dedicated volunteer recruitment campaign. This is designed to attract both new and existing volunteers by offering flexible opportunities, with time commitments starting from just a few hours.

 
The campaign introduces a wide range of roles, from event support at committee–led activities such as open gardens, antique fairs and tractor runs to home–based opportunities like Social Media Researcher.
 
Additionally, we will be recruiting volunteers to support agricultural shows, particularly in areas without local committees, to help raise awareness of RABI’s services within the farming community. Where committees already exist, show volunteers will provide extra support on the day, and in many cases, their positive experience may lead to long-term committee involvement. 
 
We believe these opportunities will enhance the invaluable work of our existing volunteers while offering new and flexible ways for people to support RABI. 
 
Please take a look and share.

• Strengthening communications & understanding our impact

Behind the scenes, we are also busy refreshing some of the information and assets ready for show season, including new videos to introduce people to RABI, plus an annual review document. All of this will help volunteers engage supporters at their events and shows. We will provide a more detailed update on this in the next newsletter.

RABI Conference

RABI's 2024 Conference

Last year's conference was a fantastic way to bring volunteers together, and the feedback was positive. This year, we're pressing pause on a national event to take a step back and explore how we can connect and support even more of you in the best way possible.  

We know a single big event works well for some but isn't accessible for everyone. We also want to make sure we're using our time and resources in ways that have the biggest impact on volunteers across the board. 

The AGM will still go ahead and be held separately. Further details to follow.

We will also continue to celebrate volunteer achievements through our volunteer awards, with a focus on more local presentations. We will then revisit plans for 2026 later in the year.

We really value everything you do and want to make sure our approach works for as many volunteers as possible. If you have thoughts, we'd love to hear them!

Resources and dates for your diary

• RABI Volunteer Handbook

• Volunteer Treasurers Guidance

• 7 April – Mental Health Training with MPs in Westminster (for info only)  

• 22 April – Volunteer Recruitment Campaign – look out for us on social media! 

• 23 April – Committee Officers quarterly call

• May roundtable – London (for info only)

• 14 May – Volunteer Voice meeting 

• 21 May – Committee fundraising events Zoom meeting – Connect here