Young Farmer to represent Callington in Austria

I have been a member of Callington Young Farmers for over 3 years now.  The Young Farmers Club is a national federation for rural youth in the United Kingdom.  I have done so much with YFC from standing on stage dressed as Britney Spears to selling dung for charity!

Having never been on holiday aboard due to finance and ill health, I decided to bite the bullet and apply for the National Federation of Young Farmers travel scheme.  This was made even more daunting when I found out no one from Callington Young Farmers had applied for 30 years!

After sending in my form, I was invited to the YFC Travel Selection day at the NFU Mutual office in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. There were 6 of us who attended from various clubs across Cornwall.

I had my interview in the morning in front of a panel of 3 judges and had a long wait till the end of the day to find out the results. There were various presentations and games to keep us entertained, which provided a great opportunity to meet other YFC members from across the country. There was some very strong competition from some inspirational young people from across the United Kingdom.  The number of applicants that had applied had doubled this year. Needless to say talking to the other candidates did make my heart sink.

To my amazement not only did I get my first choice of representing the NFYFC in Austria (there were only 2 places available) but I won the only homestay scholarship.

YFC Austria tripI will be traveling to Austria at the end of June for 2 weeks in which I will be staying with members of their Rural Youth organisation.  I will be getting stuck in helping out on the farms and experiencing their culture and food.

I would like to thank Callington Rotary club and Callington Lions for their very kind sponsorship, making this trip possible for me.

Nicole is pictured here (far right) with other Cornish Young Farmers
who will also be travelling to Austria
Nicole Doidge

If you would like to find out more about Callington YFC please contact Ashley Jones on 07792198324 or Lauren Bellas on 07446270854.