Starting in Westminster, the Back British Farming Day celebration, on 2 October, put the focus on winners of the NFU’s new Community Farming Heroes award, nominated by MPs.
Awards went to those who had gone the extra mile for their local community and beyond with 10 named West Midlands constituency winners.
The overall West Midlands Farming Hero Award went to Warwickshire farmers Andy and Lynda Eadon who were nominated by Kenilworth and Southam MP Sir Jeremy Wright.
They travelled to London for the NFU awards ceremony to meet other regional winners from across the country, MPs including Sir Jeremy and International Trade Minister, Nigel Huddleston, MP, and senior union officeholders.
In addition, MPs were asked to wear a wheatsheaf pin badge, now an emblem of the day, to show their support.
The iconic wheatsheaf badge represented the celebratory spirit of Back British Farming Day and was made from wheat sourced from Shropshire farms and wool from Devon’s Blue Face Leicester sheep, which was spun and dyed blue and red specifically to celebrate British food and farming.
The union also sent its 'Inspiring a nation' report to MPs, highlighting the vast scope of work that encompasses British farming.
The NFU regional team would like to thank all MPs who supported the showcase event in any way and also send congratulations to all farmers who were nominated for an award.
George Bostock, NFU Warwickshire county adviser who attended the Westminster event, said: “We congratulate all the individual constituency winners and our overall winners from Warwickshire and we echo what our politicians said about all of them during the nomination process.”
Ludlow MP Philip Dunne- David Robinson, Cleobury Mortimer
“David and his family engage with the local community quite a lot, they have open farm Sunday, hold carol singing and other events on farm from time to time and have given land for a Men in Sheds unit at New House Farm.”
Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski - Andrew Bebb, Hanwood
“Andrew has worked for years to support those living in rural areas with mental health. Much of his work goes unseen but his selfless work and campaigning has made a huge difference to his local community.”
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan - Ben and Charlotte Hollins, Market Drayton
“Charlotte and Ben run a community youth project for students struggling with mainstream education and has a care farm providing activities for a wide range of vulnerable people. People with learning disabilities are able to learn new skills at the work placements as well as gaining qualifications. The farm also offers apprenticeships across the business from the bakery to the butchery to the cafe.”
Burton and Uttoxeter MP Kate Kniveton – Rob Atkin, Uttoxeter
“Rob is nominated for his vision for the future of farming and the responsibility he takes for educating others about farming and his role in tackling climate change.”
Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant - Rob and Sally Mercer, Barton under Needwood
“Rob and Sally’s farm is an example of modern, progressive farming with the environment at its heart. They run educational projects which involve classes of school children visiting the farm to learn about food, farming and the countryside. They host between 80 and 90 such visits per year. They also run a charitable foundation - donating five to 10% of their profits each year - concentrating on education, health and social mobility.”
Stafford MP Theo Clarke - Richard Bower, Penkridge
“Richard has a passion for educating the public and has created many opportunities for them to come onto the farm. He also uses traditional (country shows) and modern (social media) to communicate and educate about modern farming. He has also taken environmental measures on the farm, which show a good example of how farming can work to tackle climate change.
South Staffordshire MP Sir Gavin Williamson - J&J Roberts, Pattingham
“After the loss of David Roberts, the family pulled together and decided to gather a group of 70 members to complete the Bridgnorth Walk in Dave’s memory.
“This raised nearly £15,000 for Severn Hospice and Bowel Cancer UK.”
Kenilworth and Southam MP Sir Jeremy Wright - Andy and Lynda Eadon, Napton
“After the tragic death of their son, Andy and Lynda launched a campaign to raise awareness of the mental health challenges often faced by people living in rural areas and have raised over £60,000 for good causes.”
Mid Worcestershire MP Nigel Huddleston - James Appleby, Bretforton
“James' grassland management on his organic dairy farm has encouraged the return of curlew to this part of Worcestershire, he hosts meetings on his farm to raise awareness of rural crime and was chaired the last RABI dinner at Worcester Cricket Club, which raised over £6000 for RABI – the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.”
West Worcestershire MP Harriet Baldwin - Jake Freestone, Overbury
“Jake is a fantastic advocate for the food and farming industry and is very enthusiastic about no till conservation agriculture and regenerative farming practices.”
West Worcestershire MP Harriet Baldwin
Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid – Nina Hatch, Mount Pleasant School Farm, Forhill
“Nina has been a school farm teacher for over 33 years where she has been dedicated to educating inner city children about where their food comes from whilst running the school farm.” Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid
