David Shove, who joined the NFU in Skelmersdale in 1994, will retire from his role at the end of March.
David has decided to retire following a recent period of health challenges. In September 2025, David suffered a stroke. With the support of his wife Sandra, daughter Holly and the NHS, he has recovered physically and is receiving ongoing support to recover cognitively.
David said: “The aftercare help from the NHS has been brilliant. I’ve made a great physical recovery, but I can’t concentrate and problem solve quite like I used to, hence why I’ve decided the step away from the role.
“It’s one of these things that always happens to somebody else, and all of sudden you find you’re having one yourself.”
Working relationships and lasting friendships
David, who lives in Scarisbrick and is the secretary of Croft Discussion Group, said his favourite part of the Group Secretary role was meeting people, forming working relationships and lasting friendships.
He said: “I have met a lot of lovely people, I’ve been in the job long enough to see three generations of the same family.
“It’s been quite humbling, having gone through this, how many people have got in contact with me – people that think a lot of you and are keen to find out how you’re doing. You spend all the time going on farms with a business angle but you don’t necessarily appreciate how much you are thought of.
“I’ve got long term friendships with people from doing the job. Group Secretary Hedley Roberts, who I first started the job with, often says I’m the brother he’s never had.
“I’m still very much in the community and I’ve still got the same mobile phone number so if people want to get in contact with me just to have a chat it would be nice to hear from them and catch up.”
David and Hedley Roberts started their roles on the same day in May 1994 and enjoyed a strong 24-year partnership before John’s retirement in 2018. Since then, Rachel Austin and Mark Cope have joined the Skelmersdale team.
Hedley said: “I’ve enjoyed working with Dave over the last 31 years. It’s a long time - we’ve pretty much grown up together.
“When we started our roles, we had never met before but we built a friendship up and a very good working relationship. In a team, you need different people to bring different things to the table and that’s what we had. We have great banter with one another, which is an important thing. Dave is a grafter. He was very committed to his role, very dedicated, and I have some great memories of working with him over the years.”