13 Jun Club of the Year Finalist Focus- Biggar YFC
Excitement is building for the final interviews of our National Club of the Year Competition, sponsored by Cefetra, which take place on Sunday 14 June. After battling through the regional qualifiers, six outstanding teams are ready to step into the spotlight, impress the judges and show why their club deserves to be crowned National Champion at our Grand Prize Giving during the Royal Highland Show. We caught up with each of this year’s finalists to learn more about their clubs, their journey so far and what helped secure their place in Sunday’s final.
BIGGAR YFC
What has been your club’s biggest achievement this year?
A. Over the 2025/2026 year our club was fortunate in having lots of successes, over a variety of competitions. Junior members managed to qualify for all SAYFC National Stock Dressing competitions, picking up prizes in all 3. As a club we won Lanarkshire Concert of the Year, something the club hasn’t done since 2013. Member participation has also been very high over the past year at Club, District, Regional and National levels with an array of certificates being picked up along the way.
What charity or fundraising work has your club done recently?
A. The past year’s chosen charity was The Neil’s Hug Foundation, a charity which supports families affected by suicide and is a charity very close to the clubs heart. We had 4 main charity events throughout the year, our first being a charity “Walk and Talk”, follows by a Charity “pie, beer and Shear” at Carnwath Show, we held a Charity Auction following our annual stock judging and finally, The 3 Peaks Challenge. As well as the Wight family of Midlock and Gibbs at Rusha who donated at Tub and Gimmer respectively.
At local show the club attended throughout the year, we also were raising money and awareness for our charity. All which helped raise a momentous £30,000 and awareness for our amazing charity. The 3 peaks challenge seen 12 past and present members take on climbing, Ben Nevis, Scaffell pike and Snowdon in less than 24hrs- the amazing team successfully completed this in 21 hours and 29 minutes. The Walk and Talk seen 65 past and present members walk 10km through the Pentland Hills from Tarbrax to West Linton, on the hottest day of the year – this was a fantastic day seeing so many people out walking together. We were fortunate to have 25 generous businesses and individuals donate items that were auctioned off at our Charity Auction following our Stockjudging which seen over 320 attending and raising over £12,000 on the night. The Pie, beer and Shear brought over 25 teams of 3 to Carnwath Show and an incredible crowd to watch them taking on the challenge of downing a pint, eating a pie and shearing a sheep in the quickest time. Which the night being such a success it will be back again this year at Carnwath Show.
What competitions or events have you been most successful in this year?
A. Over the past year we have had lots of member and club successes at club, district, west regional and national levels, with some highlights being our men’s team and Lanarkshire ladies teams placing at National Rugby 7’s, 2nd at National Sheep Shearing, 1st, 2nd and 3rd at West Badminton, 1st at National Junior Sheep Dressing, 1st National Junior Foursomes, 3rd National Junior Beef Cattle Dressing, 1st National Junior Dairy Cattle Dressing, 1st Lanarkshire Senior Speechmaking, as well as 1st Lanarkshire Concert of the Year for the first time since 2013 and winning Lanarkshire and West Club of the year of course being a massive achievement for the club.
In relation to our own club events club event success which cannot go unmentioned, our annual Stockjudging which was held at Lawhead Farm, Tarbrax saw 324 competitors taking part on the night, and staying to bit at our charity auction. This was a brilliant night for the club in which we were blown away by the fantastic turnout. Our annual quiz night, held in conjunction with Lanarkshire, at Biggar Rugby Club, was another fantastic turn out. It was amazing to see such a full room of keen quizzers, topping the night off with both a junior and senior Biggar team qualifying for the West Quiz.
Finally, this year we added Pint and Patter to our syllabus. Each month past and present members head along to the local pub to catch up and get out. There is no pressure to come or not and the pint is entirely optional the whole idea of pint and patter is to try encouraging people to get out and talk. We added this with the aim that if anyone is struggling or simply just feeling that they haven’t been out for a while, then they can head along knowing they’ll be familiar faces there. It has been over a year now since we started and has been great to see many different faces continuing to come along each month. Pint and patter has been a great event to help us to continue to raise awareness for mental health particularly within the rural community.
How has your club supported or engaged with the local community?
A. We thoroughly enjoy getting involved within our local community and helping out where possible. Over the last year we have attended Black Mount Community Fun Day, which we have recently attended again to this year. We annually take a float and stand to Biggar Gala Day, with the highlight being the parade. We also gathered in a Christmas food bank collection for Clydesdale Food Bank at our concert practices on the run up to Christmas, as well as attending Biggar, Carnwath and Abington Shows to help support our local agricultural shows and get out and about in the local community.
What makes your club unique and a strong Club of the Year contender?
A. In my opinion Biggar is Biggar for all that goes on behind the scenes, the people that bring everything together, the way we are always a team regardless of whether we’re winning or losing. Our current and past members are reliable and so keen to see the club do well, it takes a lot to successfully get through our busy syllabus each year and it wouldn’t be possible without our amazing members we can call on to help and those behind the scenes working hard to make it a success.
What would winning National Club of the Year mean to your members and future plans?
A. Winning would be truly amazing to see all the hard work and effort that members put in throughout the year be recognised and rewarded. Winning would help motivate future members to join and be part of the special community that Biggar Young Farmers is and help the club to continue to be successful. It would encourage us to continue to run events and add events to the syllabus that appeal to all members. As well as a boost to continue to raise awareness and money for charity. Winning would mean so much to our past, present and future members, it would be a great way to show our members how grateful we are to each of them, their encouragement, enthusiasm and involvement throughout the year.