As part of its work to support the next generation of farmers, Ringlink is helping transport North-east pupils to June’s “Be A Farmer” event.
And we’re asking agricultural producers and employers to get involved in inspiring the next generation as well.
The event is being held on Wednesday 12 June at the SRUC Aberdeen Craibstone campus to highlight the range of careers and skills involved in agriculture. Organised by the Skills for Farming Group – a partnership of agricultural and skills organisations within Scotland – the event aims to create positive perceptions amongst pupils about opportunities within the industry.
Invites are being sent to 20 schools across Angus and Aberdeenshire with the hope of attracting around 120 pupils on the day. It runs from 9.30am-2.30pm and is similar to one held in Dumfries last year.
The “Be A Farmer” concept came about when the group looked at young people choosing hairdressing, construction and midwifery as careers as well as the difficulties in communicating the opportunities in farming.
A careers event with a difference was born. The “Be a Farmer” day deliberately aligns farming roles with careers that school pupils might be more familiar with, such as nail technician (hoof trimmer), hair stylist (sheep shearer) or delivery driver (tractor driver).
It is slightly tongue-in-cheek but evaluation of last year’s event in Dumfries showed that it was very effective.
The format for the day is that pupils from local secondary schools will visit SRUC for practical experiences at Tulloch Farm and information sessions at Craibstone. Previous events have been very popular with schools although we are still looking for employers and producers to be involved.
Employers and producers can get involved, so if you want to run either a 15-20 minutes interactive workshop that can be repeated to different groups (approximately 15 S3 pupils in a group), or you can host a stand in the careers fair area that will run during lunch between 11am and 1.30pm.
Please contact gail@ringlinkscotland.co.uk if you would like to be involved in promoting careers in agriculture and make it more appealing to young people.
You can also find more info here.
