Young farmers spin a good yarn using British wool in national competition
Young farmers will be showing off their knitting skills at the national final of a new competition that has been launched by the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) and the British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB).
The competition is part of the NFYFC’s national competitions weekend that takes place at Staffordshire County Showground on 6 July 2013 and the theme for this year’s programme is Best of British.
Wool makes up just fewer than 2% of the world’s fibre usage, whereas synthetic and manmade fibre use is around 60%. As a niche fibre, the BWMB is keen to raise awareness of wool and are hoping the competition will promote the qualities of the product to young farmers.
Competitors in the knitting competition are required to knit and makeup a garment using British yarn, which must consist of 50% or more British wool. The garment, which can include buttons and other accessories, must show value for money and finished items will be judged by Jackie Williamson, Course Leader in Textile Design at Derby University, and Gareth Jones, Producer and Communications Manager at BWMB.
To ensure the items have been knitted by the entrants – more than 50 young farmers who are participating in the competition will be asked to ‘knit’ in front of the judges on the day.
The knitting contest is one of 15 competitions that are taking place over the weekend and 500 young farmers will be at the showground to compete in front of friends and families. Other competitions include junior public speaking, after dinner speaking, Christmas card design and photography competitions. On Sunday, teams from across England and Wales will also be involved in sports contests, including dodgeball, ultimate frisbee, women’s rounders and men’s 5-a-side football.
Hannah Talbot, NFYFC’s Competitions Chairman, said: “We are extremely grateful to the British Wool Marketing Board for working with us on our knitting competition and are impressed with the level of entries we have received.
“Our competitions programme offers all members a chance to take part in something they might not have tried before, and this weekend really shows off the variety of competitions on offer. Competitions are at the heart of Young Farmers’ Clubs, from a club level right up to the national finals. It will be brilliant to see the diversity of talent and skills we have in our membership as they compete in competitions ranging from knitting to dodgeball.”
Gareth Jones, BWMB’s Producer and Communications Manager, said:
“The British Wool Marketing Board is very proud of its good relationship with the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs and in particular that we have included a wool-based competition into this year’s competitions programme.
“We hope this competition has promoted the qualities of wool to NFYFC’s members who are the farmers and consumers of the future. The BWMB looks forward to building on the successes of this year’s competition and waits with anticipation to judge all of the entries.”
