We are one of the largest clubs in Somerset and we have a wide range of ages of membership. We take part in Stockjudging, Sports, Public Speaking, Drama, socialising, fundraising and always have a float in the Somerset Carnivals!
We are good fun!
We are part of Fosse Group!
2009 Year Report
by Ali Trippick You definitely can’t say that Wells and G YFC have been sat around twiddling our thumbs this year. We’ve tried our hands at pretty much anything put in our way; we’ve really enjoyed the opportunities and have even experienced some success! I think our main aim this year has been to have fun and to continue on from the great year we had last year. We’ve taken part in sporting events, such as Football, Rugby, Netball, Volleyball and Hockey. We won the Hockey 7-a-side competition and went on to represent Somerset at SWA, however a rather pushy Cornish team were the eventual winners that day. Again, we’ve tried to dominate the skittle alley, with varying amounts of success. It’s funny how our regular skittles players always seem to have “off days” when playing for the club, too much Cheddar Valley me thinks…don’t you agree Ben?! We’ve had some very informative talks by two gentlemen who have experienced farming in Belarus and other parts of Eastern Europe. Bridgwater College came and spoke to us about the college and the courses they run. After completing the 5 peaks challenge last year, Chris Dunn and myself were invited to give talks to Farrington Gurney YFC and Wells Brownies. We’ve been on numerous trips including to Wells Fire Station, organised by George, Bowling organised by Dan and to Shepton Mallet Vets. The Brean Leisure Park trip was organised by Natz, I’m not sure Ollie had such a great time as he did turn rather green on one of the rides. And who can forget Mike Houlden doing his best Tiger Woods impression during the Crazy Golf trip organised by Lydia. We all had to duck as Mike struck the ball and it flew past us and over the roof of the shops to land at the feet of a passer by! As usual we have had fun going to a variety of balls and socials run by other clubs. Boxing Day saw us all raid our fancy dress boxes and turn up to Rookery Manor dressed as our favourite Children’s TV characters. A special mention must go to Dan Veale who has impressed us all with his fancy dress efforts this year! It was great that so many of us were able to help celebrate Somerset YFC’s 75th anniversary by attending the dinner and dance. As a club we have worked tirelessly to raise as much money as possible for our club charity, to date we have raised just over £8,300 for the Transverse Myelitis Society. We have done this by organising….a bag pack, discos, a mouse race, running a bar at a wedding, a swear pot, carol singing, and our candlelit carol service. Our big club challenge this year is our charity skydive, the most challenging part of it so far is to find a day when it’s not raining, but hopefully on the 6th September you will see ten of us sailing through the air! We took part in the Pantomime this year. It was far from a smooth ride, but with the unfaltering support from the club and the advisory we were able to perform Hannah Coleman’s interpretation of “Little Red Riding Hood” with pride and confidence, I think we can all agree that Creedy made a fetching dame! On the same day Ollie Hill did us proud by coming runner up in the Somerset Junior Member of the year competition, and I won the Senior Round. SWA weekend saw lots of our members arrive at Weston ready for a weekend of fun and frolics. Away from the bars we were able to fit in a round of crazy golf, ten pin bowling and I took part and won the SWA round of Senior Member of the Year Area Final. One of the highlights of the weekend was the game of ‘Will he jump or won’t he?’ Whilst sat drinking our apple juices, we were kept entertained by two fire engines rushing past and the constant argument about whether there was a man on nearby roof or whether it was, in fact, a chimney. After Heather and Amy went to investigate, it turned out it was just a local, exposing a bit too much whilst sunbathing. In May we descended upon Blackpool for the National AGM, this was brilliant and I suggest you all try and experience it at least once in your YFC career. The Saturday night was fancy dress night, and Mike B and Bigman did not let the side down in their snugly fitted Superman Pants…good work lads. Congratulations to James Sage for winning ‘best contribution to the AGM’, and I’m pleased to say I came 4th in the National Senior Member of the Year Final. The carnival is a big part of what we are, and Lydia has kindly written a little report about it……Soon October came round and it was time to brush the cobwebs off the carnival float and set off on the Wessex circuit. With the designs ready, Bigman and his apprentice Ollie began the build (Did Bigman even touch any paint?). Unfortunately plans to lock certain members in the container were floored every time; you must try harder next time Dave! With hired help from Baker, who needless to say made the evenings more entertaining (Get your rat out Bigman!), members armed with saws and brushes set about turning the float from beast to beauty. The costumes were the product of three members brainstorming – and the sewing left a lot to be desired. Shopping for the outfits brought on a round of hysteria when Amy remembered that Lydia’s Mince Pie was still in the oven at Ali’s – we looked out for plumes of smoke coming from the centre of Shepton, and of course Ali was freaking out! Carnivals brought on after parties, with Lydia’s invention of the ladybird dance to the “Nelly the elephant song” (we still don’t know how she managed to stay on the floor for two rounds!) there were laughs and extremely late nights to be had! Before we knew it carnival was over, ending on a superb party that kept many members up until the late hours of the morning, Ali’s bruises from her performance of the “Worm” (or at least that’s where she said they came from) said it all! We haven’t shied away from promoting our club and photos of our antics have been in the local papers, Farmers Weekly and Somerset Life. We also managed to secure some work with a local radio producer. In May we won the Western Daily Press Club of the year competition, it was great to be recognised for our hard work. We had a brilliant time at the Rally, thank you to Chris for organising the handicrafts, and well done to anyone who won or was placed in a competition, the image of Lily with her head immersed in the apple bobbing tub will stay with me for ever!! I personally think it was one of our most successful rally’s for a few years. And last but not least, I must mention our awesome Junior’s, they are the crux of our club and continue to impress us all with their achievements and confidence. Well done you lot, keep up the hard work. I have loved being chairman of this club and just want to say a huge thanks to everyone for their support, you are great. x
Wells & Glastonbury
February 2012 YFC Newsletter