the chauffer driven minibus

How to contact us
Newsletter Items – email
hawickmanabroad@hotmail.com
Chairman – Andy Mair
Andymair36@hotmail.com
Secretary - Alison Taylor
07967351622
Treasurer – Russell Gray
07909 985814
All YFA info can be found on
www.ifye.co.uk and www.sayfc.org
Jimmy Murrie
1948-2009
After having sent out my first
newsletter, Jimmy gave me the fright of
my life when he told me he always read
the newsletters when they come in the
post. It didn’t half draw my attention
as to what I should and should not put
in print when I knew people would
read and take an interest in what I
wrote. Jimmy always took a keen
interest in the YFA as well as his other
aviation interests. He will be sorely
missed by us all and our thoughts are
with his wife Marianne and his
daughter, Fiona and son Hugh.
Chairman‟s Craic
Hi Folks, well, YFA has been
fairly busy from your last
newsletter. We had the great
pleasure of taking the incoming
international exchanges away for
the day, where we went to Camera
Obscura in Edinburgh, the clay
mine at Bo‟Ness then Albert
Bartletts in Airdrie, whilst the
weather wasn‟t great, the banter on
the chauffer driven minibus
(chauffer being yours truly) and
visits certainly made up for it, the
day was then capped by a meal at
the Fenwick hotel where we were
joined by the Ayrshire hosts.
Following the away day, was our
dance at Craigie village hall, it was
a great nite with it being well
attended and gave the chance for
the exchanges to meet up again
and meet more of the locals, many
thanks must go to all who helped
at the bar, door and all those who
supported the YFA once again.
Allison has also been very busy
and set up a Facebook page, this is
aimed to hopefully build levels of
communication within YFA and
gives members and past exchanges
the chance to keep in touch, please
go on to Facebook and search for
“YFA Scottish Region” and
register as a friend.
Looking forward and Allison and
myself will be representing
Scotland at the YFA Reunion in
Newcastle in November, if anyone
has anything they wish us to bring
up, please don‟t hesitate to get in
contact with us.
Hopefully we will be having
another fund raising event in
January, this is still to be organised
but if anyone has any suggestions
or something in mind that you
think we should be doing, please
don‟t hesitate in contacting Allison
or myself.
Time to sign off, but hope your all
well and hopefully see you
sometime soon.
Regards
Andy Mair
Chairman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Secretary’s Chat
Hi there!
Well we're about half way through the
YFA year and its been a busy-ish one
so far. In June we welcomed our
international delegates and gave them
a good day by providing them with a
fun packed away day - you can read
more in my away day report. Quickly
following that we had our dance in
Craigie Hall which was a successful
night, however was very poorly
attended by YFA members - other
than committee members only 2
attended!! Luckily the local Young
Farmers Clubs saved the day by
turning out in their car loads to meet
our delegates. I hope we can expect
better support from our members at
our next fund raising event in the
New Year. After all if we don't have
support YFA won't exist and the
funding to future exchangees won't
be possible - so please give that little
bit back to the association, as we've
all reaped the benefits when we have
taken our exchange trips. On a more
positive note, the reception at the
Highland show was well attended by
our anniversary delegates and it
would good to catch up. This month
the committee are having another
meeting so if you have any issues,
please email them to yfa-sec-scottishregion@hotmail.co.uk and we will
raise these for you. We are following
the meeting with a night out in Perth
to help the committee get better
acquainted so we can really bond as a
team! This is something I hope will
become a regular occurrence. The
next big event is the re-union in
Gosforth Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
on the weekend of 23rd October 2009
- I hope that some of you will be
attending and look forward to seeing
you there! That's all for now!
Hopefully see a few of you at the reunion!!
Thanks
Alison Taylor
07967 351 622
Yfa-sec-scottishregion@hotmail.co.uk
Gilmeadowland Cottage
Linlithgow
EH49 6LN
A wee request
Could people go to the IFYE
website and register to receive the
IFYE update which will keep us all
updated on the goings on of the
other 3 nations in the UK YFA.
It‟ll be just like having our own
wee YFA networking site!
The editor thinks:-
or knows of anyone else that has then please drop
me a line.
Lastly, I can’t help but wonder why Scottish
YFA supremo, Andy Mair has the number 36 in
his e-mail address. If anyone knows or better still,
would like to speculate what the 36 may represent,
drop me a line. Any responses will be printed in
the next newsletter.
Enjoy the newsletter and re-union,
Jim
YFA Re-union 2010
'Gathering of the Clans'
The hotel is now booked ' Hilton
Coylunbridge'
Friday 29th Oct 2010 for 3 nights
and the MAX cost will be
£199!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we got big plans for this
obviously the success of the ceilidh
dictates exactly how big the plans and
extras are...
we also offering a DD/SO saving plan
so when weekend comes
round....don’t costs you so much
or you get cash back as spending
money if saved enough
we really want to put the reunion
back on the calendar
we are aiming to get 250 people
attending
web site up, and almost running
www.yfa2010.com
At present I’m sitting in a hotel room in
Birmingham with the intention of heading over
towards Harwich later today to catch the ferry to
Denmark as part of my Nuffield Scholarship. My
most northerly destination is Ostersund in
YFA away day shenanigans
Sweden where right now it’s -5 and snow forecast.
Needless to say it’ll be a wee bit of a shock to me
with the borders not seeing a huge amount of cold
weather mainly due warm glow we receive from the
eternal fires of hell otherwise known as Gala. I
have 5 weeks away planned ranging as I said from
from the hotel in Edinburgh, in our
very funky fast travelling (going down
hills only) bus being driven by our
chairman, Andy. Everyone seemed
full of fun and keen to see where we
were taking them. To start off we
took them into Edinburgh city centre
where we headed to Camera Obscura
on the Royal Mile to see the city from
a strange and very different angle.
After experimenting with many
optical illusions we were ready to
move
on.
We
headed
to
Muiravonside Country park for a picnic
lunch before heading to Birkhill Clay
Mine in Bo'ness where Ross, a past
miner took us down the steep steps
(we certainly felt the burn on the way
back up - oh yah!!!) in the torrential
rain to the mouth of the pit, we were
all glad to get in out of the rain. We
took a walk through the caverns
which extends to 3 miles of routes
although we only walked a short part
of it. We had many geological terms
described to us with very good
examples of fossilising tree roots in
the roof of the mine and "a never
done before" switching off of the
lights in the pit so we could imagine
the conditions the miners were
working in. After a very interesting
tour we then boarded back on the
Andy bus and headed to Albert
Bartlett's of Airdrie for a tour of the
plant, seeing the root vegetable
process from planting to packing and
transportation was definitely food for
thought! We all left a little bit more
educated about farming, and headed
to the Fenwick hotel for an evening
meal which was well attended by 20
Ayrshire members who were keen to
come to meet their delegates. After
introducing a few delegates to Haggis
and Whiskey we sent them on their
way to their host clubs. A great day
was had by all and we were all ready
for a good sleep after a very hectic
and
far
travelled
day!!
Ostersund in Sweden through Denmark then
International Farm Youth
Exchange Conference 2009
onto Germany which takes me as far south as
Munich. Unfortunately as a result, I’ll not be able
to make the re-union this year which is a big
disappointment. Any social engagement I’ve been
to in Newcastle has always exceeded expectations
and I’m sure the re-union will be no different.
As many of you may have guessed, my births and
marriage reports is not up to the standard it should
be. I blame it on not having Catriona’s strong
womanly guidance on these issues to keep me up
to speed. Apologies if you have been missed out
but please if anyone has got engaged/given birth
Well on the 17th June we welcomed
10 delegates to our country to show
them some of the delights Scotland
has to offer. The format of our away
started by us collecting the delegates
The 51st European IFYE Conference was
held in the Isle of Man from 4th - 11th
July. The conference is a once a year
opportunity to meet up with fellow
exchangees from all over Europe. Anyone
who has been on an exchange trip - since
they started over 50 years ago – can
attend. It‟s a „European Rally‟ for all
ages!
The weekend commenced with a „Viking‟
fancy dress party, the Norwegians did
have an advantage and perhaps had to
look no further than their top drawer for
the horn hats!
The official IFYE conference opening
ceremony was held in College Chapel.
We were treated to the sound of a large
male and female choir, whose songs
included Westlife‟s „You Raise Me Up‟
and Queen‟s „Bohemian Rhapsody‟ –
absolutely fantastic. The stunning setting
of King Williams College provided a
fabulous backdrop for the group and
country photos – 16 were countries
represented.
As the IFYE President & chairman of
the conference Martin Quayle is an Isle of
Man MHK (Member of the House of
Keys), he managed to „acquire‟ some 145
invites to the Tynwald Garden Party,
hosted by the Lord Lieutenant Governor
(British Crown representative on the Isle
of Man) and held at the Nunnery just
outside the island‟s capital, Douglas. So
on Sunday afternoon everyone had the
opportunity to dress up, relax, chat and
nibble the delicacies on offer! In the
evening the local young farmers
entertained the group with a great
selection of sketches, songs and music.
Monday was „Tynwald Day‟ when the
world‟s oldest continuous parliament held
an open air ceremony allowing the
islanders to hear the laws, seek justice, or
speak their thoughts. It was a very warm
and sunny day, a few IFYE‟s were
noticed „nodding off! Lunch was a real
treat, a marquee bedecked from a
wedding the night before was the venue!
In the afternoon the trips included a visit
to the attractions at the town of Peel, a
flower festival or a visit to Cronk-yVoddy Sports day, what a great laugh,
terrier and lurcher racing and an IFYE
tug- of war team (including Wee Tam,
Willie Annett, Eric Crozier and Davy
Hull from Northern Ireland, coached by
Steedsy, may be some familiar names).
On Tuesday everyone visited the Manx
Museum, a 5* attraction that lived up to
expectation. An exhibit which allow
„riders‟ to „drive‟ a motorbike around the
TT racecourse proved a big hit – anyone
who secretly used a play station was
quickly identified! After lunch a tour of
the Parliament buildings or an afternoon
free in Douglas were options. We all
travelled back home with much hilarity,
to Castletown, in a lovely old steam train.
A surprise lay in wait for those opting for
the vintage transport trip on Wednesday –
two vintage buses – the group were
transported to the sights including a visit
to the world‟s largest working water
wheel „the Laxey Wheel‟. The second
group enjoyed the beautiful warm sunny
day on foot – walking from Port St Mary,
via the Cregneash Folk Museum, past the
calf of Man. The views of the craggy
coastline, nesting birds and blue seas and
skies were stunning. The walk to far
longer than planned, probably due to the
fabulous photo opportunities & natural
history information provided by the
walking guides. The third group were
given a tour around the world famous 37
¾ mile long TT course by an ex-racer. Its
220 bends were taken somewhat slower in
the 52-seater coach than the 17-18
minutes that the bikers take!
Thursday was „host family day‟ - many
members of the farming community
picked up groups of 2 – 3 IFYE‟s and
toured around the local sights, attractions
and their area for the day. In the evening
we rendezvoused back at King William‟s
College for a barbecue and barn dance in
a marquee in the grounds.
The IFYE AGM was conducted on Friday
morning, coincidentally this is the only
meeting that is held during the week! The
afternoon was spent doing last minute
shopping for some, saying cheerio to the
local bars for others! In the evening a
stage of the UK rally car championships
started in front of the college - it
coincided with the drinks reception pre
farewell gala dinner! So all car drivers
whether they be scorers, starters, first aid
crew or rally drivers were given equally
rapturous applause by the champagne
sipping (and gulping) group. The evening
event was the culmination of a fabulous
week: where we all had as much hilarity,
laughs & fun all rolled into one, that
could ever be wished for – roll on next
year!
The 2010 IFYE conference will be held at
Ursprung, near Salzburg in Austria from
the 31st July to the 7th August. Please take
a look at the official IFYE website:
www.ifye.org; the conference web site:
www.ifye2010@gmx.at; or the UK ifye
website www.ifye.co.uk or contact Sally
Young
07876781800
youngsm@angus.gov.uk
for
more
information – remember, you are all
eligible to have a fabulous week too!
The
IFYE
organisation
has
a
„Development Fund‟ the purposes of the
fund are to support new IFYE
programmes; support free membership for
IFYES‟s from former Eastern European
countries & support special events and
material produced by the Association.
Any national IFYE alumni organisation
(i.e. Scottish Association of Young
Farmers Clubs)
Fundraising ceilidh
sat 6th feb 2010
Linlithgow Academy [EH49 6EH]
7.30pm for 8pm start, Till 1am
band - the famous 'Last Tram Tae
Auchenshuggle!!'
Pig Spit Roast supper incl in ticket
DJ filling for band breaks
price raffle
Tickets £12.50
go fill a car, and have a huge night will lots
of YFA/YFC from all ages
local B&B available
contact Steedsy 01506 844 844 or
steedsy@ward-steedsy.co.uk
.
DON’T FORGET TO PAY YOUR
MEMBERSHIP
Membership is requested as soon after
the AGM as possible…….
Sort Code 83-44-00
Account No. 00608534
Set your standing order NOW!!!!!