Christmas party

This year, the annual Christmas party was at Kensey Vale Bowling Club. As usual, the games were organised by the advisory committee, many thanks to them! Games included moving polos from person to person using cocktail sticks in the mouth, and a club favourite, Little Ernie! Members bought along food to share afterwards.

The key on a string game

Carol singing in Launceston and Cornwall YFC carol service

Continuing with the Christmas festivities, it was time for some carol singing! On Thursday 17th, we started off singing in Kernow House, the care home, at 6pm. Members sung to the residents, who were happy to hear us, and looking forward to Christmas too. From there, we moved into the town centre, and sung along with Launceston Town Band. From there we went to our presidents house, Tim Bebbington, at Daws House, where we enjoyed mulled apple juice and mince pies. After that, we finished up at Oli Stephens house in Coads Green to enjoy a bring and share supper, and continue with carols.

The following evening, it was the County Carol Service in Truro Cathedral. The cathedral was full as usual, as it is a popular event for parents and other people wishing to support YFC. Several carols were sung, plus some poems and readings from YFC members and the Bishop of Truro. After the service, we went to the Venue nightclub on a holiday park just outside Newquay, to dance away for Christmas

Snow Ball

After many months of planning, our 'Snow Ball' was finally here. Launceston town hall had been decorated with festive lights and Christmas trees, and the tables had Christmas themes salt and pepper pots and wreathes. All 180 tickets for the event were sold way before the event and there was even a waiting list.
On arrival, guests were given a reception of mulled wine, and mingled before sitting down to a roast meal at 7.30. Turkey and beef were served with three vegetables, carrots, peas and red cabbage. This was followed by dessert, choices were Christmas pudding or lemon rulade. Once the meal was over, it was time for the £5 note raffle. Everyone that wanted to enter wrote their name on a note, and the winner took home half of the takings. The other half will be going to one of the chosen charities of the year. Well done to the lucky guest that took home £165!
The band for the evening, Fleeting Glimpse, commenced after the raffle. They played two stints, with DJ Pasty filling in between and after, both playing a mix of up to date and older tunes to satisfy all tastes.

Christmas craft

With Christmas approaching, we got creative once again to make table decorations. These were wreathes that has an oasis centre with foliage arranged around it. They will be used at the snow ball to decorate the tables to add a festive touch. Members also made an arrangement in a clay pot, with a candle in the middle.

Just a Minute

Eight people in two teams from Launceston Young Farmers went down to St Newlyn East village hall on Friday December 4th to take part in the county final of the Just a Minute competition. This is a panel game in which the contestants are challenged to speak for one minute without hesitation, deviation or repetition on any subject that comes up. There were 7 teams competing in total, with 4 in a team, so that totalled 28 rounds. Subjects ranged from 'My favourite toy' to 'The advantages of being female' and 'Fake tans'. Launceston A team got 7th place, and Launceston B team got 4th. Well done to everyone that took part, and good luck to the winners in the next round.

Plymouth late night shopping

Launceston Young Farmers members gathered in Plymouth to do a bit of late night shopping in time for Christmas! The festive market and Christmas lights helped get the shoppers in the Christmas spirit! After a few hours shopping, we met at the sun dial to show each other what we had bought. Then we went for some fast food and then on to The Cardinals Hatt for a drink and announcements.

Visit to a model farm

This evening we went to the house of Launceston YFC member, Jack Pannell, to look at his model farm. Jack has been collecting farm models in 1:32 scale since he was a child, and over the years he has built up his collection and made a detailed farm. The attention to detail was incredible, a lot of the buildings and scenery had been hand made, and real life objects had been measured to make sure it was in scale! Everyone was amazed at the display and how long it must have taken, Jack even takes it to shows to display and enter competitions.

Ice Skating

Launceston YFC's club meeting was held on a Friday this week to make use of the ice rink that was in Launceston town square over the weekend. Despite being called an ice rink, there was no ice there, instead a slippery plastic top which had a similar affect. Everyone had a great time despite the poor weather, and retired to the White Hart afterwards. Some other members attended Camelford YFC's Wine and Wisdom, and gained a respectable 6th place from about 22 teams, well done to them.

Cornwall debating final

A huge congratulations to our debating team who came 3rd at the county final last night - a special mention must be made to Hannah Gribble who was awarded the cup for best speaker and will now join the county team going forward to represent Cornwall at swa!

James Broad, Kelly Cornelius, Amy Trehane, Kate Jenkin and Hannah Gribble.
Thanks to Dan Rowe for the photo: https://www.facebook.com/danrowephotos

Hatherleigh carnival

11 members of Launceston YFC braved the gale force winds to go to Hatherleigh carnival. Luckily the rain did hold off for the precession, and there was a good crowd. There is always a lot of competition from other clubs at Hatherleigh, so we did well to come away with highly commended. This was to be the last carnival this year, the decision was made not to enter Holsworthy.

New members evening

48 people attended the new members evening this year, with 13 of which being new members! A very well attended evening. We started the evening by sitting in a big circle and we had to introduce the person sitting to our left, including saying what their favourite sandwiches were! We continued the evening by playing some other games such as finding things in a bag in the quickest time, and ordering ourselves in lines while standing on chairs! It was nice to see so many people and hopefully the new members will continue to come to club.

Indoor sports round

On Wednesday 11th November, a group of us went down to Bodmin College for the first round of indoor sports. Launceston competed against six other clubs in east Cornwall, with the top two clubs going through to the final. There were two other rounds further down Cornwall. Games included beer can shy, dribbling the basket ball, and skipping amongst others, Unfortunately, we only managed fourth place so we did not get into the final, however we all had a good night.

Rememberance Sunday

Members of Launceston YFC gathered to join the annual remembrance parade in Launceston. Despite the poor weather, several attended to pay their respects.

Children in Need Rickshaw Challenge

Members of Launceston YFC joined about 200 other supporters in Coads Green to cheer on the Children in Need Rickshaw Challenge. A guard of honour was formed for the rickshaw riders, ex-NFYFC President Matt Baker and all the support crew and riders. All the riders and support crew loved it- many hanging out of the window to take photos.

Keep a look out for us on Monday night's episode of the One Show, 7pm on BBC1!

Charity fireworks night with Callington YFC

To mark bonfire night this year, we went to a display that Callington YFC were holding near Amy Tree. Homemade soup and sausage rolls were on offer along with hot drinks to keep ourselves warm! Just under £315 was raised to go to Callington YFC's charity for the year.

Halloween Party

With 31st October falling on a Saturday this year, we took to Trethorne for our annual disco. With over 250 people attending, it was a busy night, partying to DJ Pasty until the early hours!

Cornwall YFC 'curve' session

Georgina Monk, the current chairman from Cornwall YFC came up to talk about communication and how we use it in club. It is one of many 'curve' sessions that Cornwall YFC offer to train and pass on knowledge. After we all introduced ourselves, we worked in three teams and had discussions on how communication is used within club, within county YFC and within the wider community. Georgina then set us a challenge to see how big a tower we could build using spaghetti and marshmallows, which did create a bit of mess!

Debating Round

Well done to all who competed in the debating round, it was fantastic to have 2 teams competing at Mount and especially such young teams. It shows great hope for the future. Very well done to the B team who have qualified for the final, and also congratulations to Liskeard YFC on winning the round and also going through.

Camelford carnival

The third carnival of the year was at Camelford where we once again had a good turnout of people to take part. The float gained 3rd prize in the over 16s artistic category. Well done to everyone that attended.

Indoor Sports Practice

On 22nd October, we all gathered at Warbstow Hall for indoor sports practice. Our sports secretaries Thomas Routly and Holly Yelland showed us what the sports are for the competition this year, and we split into groups to compete against each other, Sports ranged from frizbee, rolling tyres and a relay race to a game of Kwik cricket at the end. A smashing time was had by all!

Okehampton carnival

Okehampton is the second carnival of the season, with several members travelling up the A30 to take part. Unfortunately no prizes were won this time, although the float looked good. A good time was had by all.

Visit to Bodmin Jail

Young farmers this week took us to Bodmin Jail where we had a guided tour. We started out in the car park where our guide explained how the height of the walls was increased as inmates kept escaping! He also showed us how the yard had changed after a haulage company used the jail as a shunting yard. Next we went into the naval wing which was used during the war. He was able to show is how the heating and ventilation systems worked, and said how it was state of the art and most modern jail in Europe when it was built. From here we went into the basement below the main ventilation tower where we saw where the heating system would have been, and some underground cells. As we climbed up 6 levels, we saw rooms that had their place in history, including where the crown jewels and doomsday book were stored for a short period. The tour finished at the top of the tower where the outlet of the ventilations system was.

Launceston Carnival

As usual, the first carnival of the season was Launceston and 15 club members met at Newport for this years procession. Everyone was dressed as miners with dark clothes, hats and headlamps, but with the addition of tutus! We gained 1st in our class, and also most original idea!

AGM 2015

Over 40 club members and guests attended the annual general meeting at the White Hart in Launceston. The secretary, treasurer and club leader all gave their account and report of the year, and it was reported that over £2600 has been raised for the charity of the year which was the British Heart Foundation. A vote of thanks was made to the retiring officers by Hannah Gribble, and new officers were elected for the roles for the upcoming year.

Carnival prep

The carnival season is fast approaching, and this year we have chosen Billy Elliot as our theme. The float is quickly taking shape, and will hopefully be ready by Launceston Carnival on 10th October!

Liskeard Show Tug-of-War

Well done to Launceston YFC mixed Tug-of-War team who won today at Liskeard Show!! Fantastic effort both girls and boys, I'm sure there will be aches and pains in the morning, especially for some!

Royal Cornwall Show cubicle

Well done to Launceston YFC on 4th place with their cubicle at the show. The theme was rugby world cup countries, and they were given Japan.

                        

Tug of War winners!

Congratulations to the Launceston YFC Tug of War team that competed at competitions day on 24th May at St Tudy. They won every pull they took part in! Well done to everyone else that took part in stock judging, cookery and other competitions that were on during the day.

Bowling

With a last minute cancellation and nowhere to go, Stephanie Cornelius organised a night bowling at Trethorne with a buy one get one free on the games members enjoyed a social night bowling.

Talk by police

Tonight we had the local PCSO’s in for a talk they told us the problems they face a force from budget cuts and how they would like to be on the streets patrolling more but due to cuts and large areas to cover it’s just not viable. They also told us how they get grief they get from the public if they stop for their lunch in a fast food chain! An interesting evening was had by all. Vote of thanks Sam Northey.

Tour of Launceston

Tonight we took a tour of our home town Launceston, walking the around what used to be a wall protecting the town many years ago with some bits of the wall remaining but most of it fallen. We were shown pictures of what it used to look like and the background behind it all from the names of the streets to the parishes’ just outside. An interesting evening was had by all and I think we all took something away from this night! Vote of thanks by Heather Stanbury. 

Talk by a farmer from British Columbia

Tonight we headed across the border to join with Okehampton young farmers for a talk by a farmer that used to farm in England before he moved to British Columbia to farm. He explained to us the different way of life and the different way of farming out there compared to here and he also explain how much cheaper things are out there compared to here. He showed a slideshow of some pictures he put together of his farm out there. Thanks must go to Okehampton young farmers for inviting us to join them in their talk

Talk by Launceston School of Motoring

Tonight we headed into Trethorne for a talk by Launceston School of motoring. There we were told about the old high way code, accidents he has seen and been in and he showed us a video of what happens if you are travelling at speed on a wets day how some drivers are lucky but most aren’t! He also done a quiz on alcohol levels in the blood, with most of us thinking one pint is allowed and that we would be under the limit we actually might not be as alcohol effects everyone in different ways. Vote of thanks done by Hannah Gribble.