Okehampton Young Farmers Club (YFC) has reported a fall in membership as young people gravitate towards the larger farming clubs in other parts of Devon.

The farmers club reported last week that it was struggling to increase its membership following covid and was facing competition from larger clubs.

Chairman of the club Hazel Coward, said: ‘There are quite a few clubs around here and that’s one of the reasons why we are struggling. Young people go to the bigger clubs. The smaller ones like us get forgotten. It has been really hard.’

She added that many people have a mistakenly stereotypical image of the YFC being a club filled ‘with farmers sitting in tractors and going to the pub.’

‘There’s a lot more to it than that,’ said Ms Coward. ‘We show our farmers around other places. We do activities like go-karting or bowling and hold events to help young ones get a grant.’

In the past, Okehampton YFC has also held bingo events for charities with some of the most recent events raising money for Devon Air Ambulance and Cancer Research UK.

Ms Coward also highlighted the inclusive nature of club. She said: ‘You don’t have to be a farmer, you can be anybody. It’s for everyone and it’s a way of meeting people. In my parents’ time they had village dances and things like that where young people could meet one another but we don’t have that anymore.’

Okehampton’s young farmers club has been running for 60 years and is part of the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs, a nationwide youth organisation for those living in rural areas.

The group was established over 100 years ago with the first club opening in Hemyock in Devon in 1921.

Clubs are run by the young people themselves and anyone between the ages of ten and 28 is welcome to join.

For more information visit Okehampton Young Farmers Club Facebook page or see the Instagram page at okehampton_yfc.