Building on our heritage
There is a palpable air of excitement at the headquarters of the Suffolk Agricultural Association (SAA) as the team plan for the main event in the region’s show calendar. But the SAA is about much more than the Suffolk Show. Adviser spoke to Phillip Ainsworth, the new SAA chief executive about the initiatives they are taking to promote and develop the region’s agricultural sector. Q. It’s well known that livestock farming is going through tough times – has this been reflected in entries for the Show this year? Q. We all remember a few years ago when the Show was cancelled because of the bad weather. What kind of planning can you to do to cope with this kind of thing? Q. You have previously talked about your determination to raise awareness of food and farming for young people. What plans do you have to develop this?
A: Our livestock and equine entries continue to thrive, you only have to visit the show to see this with people coming from all over the UK to show their livestock. Competing and winning at the Suffolk Show is a significant achievement; we also attract top quality judges. The quality of our livestock exhibits are an intrinsic part of the show and a reason why so many people from the farming community and the general public keep coming to the Show. This remains, and will always be, a very important area for us to support and develop.
A: We grow our education activities every year, for example, the School Farm and Country Fair is now in its 16th year. So far about 50,000 Key Stage 2 pupils from schools right across the county have attended the event at Trinity Park which enables them to see at first hand where their food comes from and how it is produced. It can also help them begin to understand what a dynamic sector food and farming is and that it could open up many career possibilities to them in the future. We also run a Potato Day, the Food and Farming Student Day and the Farming School of the Year competition. These initiatives are so important because they inspire young people to look at food and farming in a different way. Food and farming is intrinsically linked to the economy and heritage of Suffolk and it’s very important that we play our part in raising awareness of this amongst young people. We also run the Trinity Park Conference and Event Centre which is an excellent conference and event venue. It’s important that we get the message across that when people choose to hold their event with us they are not only booking a quality event experience but also supporting all the good work we do as a charity to inform about food and farming, especially the work we do with young people.
A: We have a very experienced team in place who are well placed to plan every aspect of the Show; the attention to detail and precision of our planning is very important. The Suffolk Show is a major public event so safety of visitors has to be our top priority. In 2012, it wasn’t a case of bad weather; it was a case of public safety due to exceptionally high winds so it was a unique set of circumstances which the public completely understood, as did all our exhibitors and sponsors. What has been especially pleasing is how subsequent years have been so successful. Planning for the next year’s Show begins the day after we finish this years event with a very thorough series of de-briefs where we examine every aspect of the Show and address any issues we need to consider for future years. We also survey our visitors to look at how we can develop the visitor experience for them.
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