The NFU in the East Midlands, West Midlands and North East have launched the 2013 Farming Ambassadors programme.
Director of NFU East Midlands, Richard Hezlet, said: “Farming is in the limelight now, as the excellent television coverage with Countryfile and all our celebrity chefs has shown just how important, great and varied is our home grown food production.
“Farming Ambassadors is open to anyone involved in a farming or horticultural business in the three regions. It offers a targeted training programme that will benefit the participants just as much as our industry – we want our trainees to have fun and make friends, which they surely will, but at the same time develop some key skills to help them, their businesses and their industry, whether that’s on the political stage or acting as the face of farming for your county or sector.”
A former Farming Ambassador participant is NFU’s national livestock board chairman, Charles Sercombe, who took part in the 2010 course. Charles said: “I really enjoyed the three days of Farming Ambassador training. It gave me a lot of confidence and an insight into how I could present myself and my industry in a better way.
"I picked up some extremely useful tips to improve my performance and I fall back on the advice and skills we were taught in a lot of my current NFU work. If you want to go further in farming politics, help build your own skills and confidence and put something back into farming, then Farming Ambassadors provides a great grounding.”
The courses are funded under the Rural Development Programme for England, under a contract secured by ADAS for management training in the farming and horticulture industries. The programme runs over three days and includes training in media and presentation skills, negotiation and chairmanship. NFU will administer the three regions’ courses and applications will be judged by panels to ensure that the six best candidates from each region take part.
Anyone interested can find out more by contacting the NFU’s regional teams as follows:
- East Midlands – by phone on 01572 824260 or email ZWFzdC5taWRsYW5kc0BuZnUub3JnLnVr
- North East – by phone on 01904 451550 or email bm9ydGguZWFzdEBuZnUub3JnLnVr
- West Midlands – by phone on 01952 409500 or email d2VzdC5taWRsYW5kc0BuZnUub3JnLnVr