ABP Angus Youth Challenge puts Newtownhamilton High School on the map

Aimee McCombe, Ellen Baillie and Sophie McKnight are Year 12 students at Newtownhamilton High School. The past 12 months have seen them work together in a way that totally impressed the judges of what has become one of Northern Ireland’s premier school competitions.

The end result of their efforts was becoming the Overall Winners out of the four winter finalist groups competing in the 2022 ABP Angus Youth Challenge.

Also playing a key role in the success achieved by the girls has been their Home Economics: Food and Nutrition teacher, Carol Alexander.

She takes up the story: “I was initially made aware of the ABP Angus Youth Challenge through my links with CAFRE’s Loughry Campus.

“Taking part in the competition immediately stood out as a tremendous opportunity to complement the class work that the students were undertaking in a fun and exciting way.”

So enthused were Carol and her then Year 11 students that three teams came together within the one class to each submit an entry for the competition.

Three complimentary themes were identified, each reflecting the importance of beef production at the various stages along the farming and food chain.

These were: The Farmer’s way group, The Butcher’s Way group and the Consumer’s Way group.

“To our delight, all three teams made it through to the semi-final stage of the competition, based on the original video presentations that were produced.

“However, it was the strong consumer focus brought to bear by Aimee, Ellen and Sophie that made the difference with the judges.”

From the get-go, the three girls had wanted to investigate the role of beef within a healthy diet and how this message could be communicated to younger consumers in the most effective way possible.

All three come from the Newtownhamilton and Belleek area with each having a strong family farming background.

In the case of Aimee and Ellen, beef production is at the centre of their families’ farming interests. Sophie, on the other hand, has a strong background in milk production. Her family also operates a farm contracting business.

From the get-go, their participation in the Youth Challenge has had a very strong community dimension. First and foremost, they view their school as a community hub. But beyond this, the three girls saw the opportunity of involving the entire community throughout the Newtownhamilton area in their activities.

One of the core drivers identified by the team was the important role played by Vitamin B12 in human nutrition and the fact that beef is a key source of this essential nutrient.

Sophie takes up that story: “We organised a B12 month across a number of social media platforms during July of this year.

“People logging on to the sites got to learn about the role of Vitamin B12 in the diet while also participating in four weekly draws for free.

“Businesses in the Newtownhamilton, Keady, Armagh and Tandragee sponsored the prizes. It was a tremendous success: hundreds of people got involved with the social media sites gaining nearly 700 followers.

‘B12 July was followed, in a similar vein by “Angus August”. This specific initiative promoted the Angus breed, with social media posts highlighting the benefits of red meat, in tandem with shared recipes.”

Another resounding success was the Farm to Fork festival hosted by Mrs Alexander, Aimee, Sophie and Ellen and their families on 03 September this year.

The event took place in Newtownhamilton Community Rural Hall and attracted a large turn out of people from all areas of Co Armagh and beyond.

Mrs Alexander commented: “The Food Hall was supported by over 20 stalls from local artisan and larger-scale food producers. Representatives from within education and agri-food sectors such as CAFRE, Newtown First Responders and Ulster Farmer’s Union also came on board. The Cookery demonstrations were a prominent feature of the festival and the other highlight of the day was the tractor run, involving 95 local farmers, contractors and other machinery enthusiasts. The raffle with over 30 prizes greatly contributed to our fundraising efforts. It was also at our Farm to Fork festival that we met Mr Michael Savage, Chairperson of Newry and Mourne District Council.”

“We nominated Air Ambulance Northern Ireland as our charity partner,” Aimee explained. “And to date, we have collected £7,000 for what is a tremendous cause.”

Not surprisingly, word soon got out about the exploits notched up by Aimee, Ellen and Sophie.

On 7th September this year the intrepid trio, plus Carol Alexander, received a civic award, presented to them by Mr Michael Savage, Chairperson of Newry and Mourne District Council, after being nominated by local councillor Mr David Taylor.

Their ABP Angus Youth Challenge success and tremendous commitment to the community of Newtownhamilton was specifically commented upon by Council chief executive Michael Savage as he presented the awards to the four recipients.

The assessment provided by the judges of the ABP Angus Youth Challenge in their decision to select the pupils from Newtownhamilton High School as winners sums up the impact the girls have had: ‘Pride in who you are, where you come from, the people and community that support you and a drive to succeed totally encapsulated this team.’

A key moment in the Youth Challenge journey made by Aimee, Ellen and Sophie over the past 12 months was their short-listing as finalists in the 2022 competition. This was confirmed at an event held at Balmoral Park.

Adding to the significance of this milestone was their full awareness of the fact that they would get the opportunity of managing five cross-bred Aberdeeen-Angus weanlings through to finishing. The decision was taken to place the cattle on the Bailie farm.

“All the cattle, three bullocks and two heifers, have performed tremendously well over the past 12 months,” Ellen confirmed.

“They were put out to grass in June and should have reached their finishing weight in a month or so’s time.”

She added:“And again, we have had tremendous support from the members of our local community.

“Keady-based farm merchant Richard Powell provided one tonne of cattle meal and a supply of the Liquid Gold mineral and vitamin cattle drench at no cost.”

So what’s next for the ABP Angus Youth Challenge?

Now in its fifth year, the competition requires participating Yr.11’s to demonstrate a unique mix of business acumen, innovation and flair while – at the same time – getting the chance to actually work with Aberdeen-Angus cattle.

ABP managing director for Northern Ireland George Mullan commented: “The Angus Youth Challenge has been a tremendous success. Interest from schools wanting to participate continues to grow.”

He added: “From the very outset, the management team at ABP recognised the uniqueness of the scheme to develop the potential for young people to gain experience and get actively involved in production agriculture and the food processing industry.

“The scope of the career opportunities within both sectors continues to expand. The Angus Youth Challenge is also highlighting the value of beef in the diet to young consumers and how it is produced locally with care and skill.”

The final stages of the competition required the Newtownhamilton team to produce a report, looking at the benefits of sustainable produced beef in the diet, with a specific focus on the needs of younger people between 16 and 24 years of age.

With the support of Carol Alexander, they decided to look at the nutritional value of beef with an emphasis on its Vitamin content and to explore young people’s understanding of the vitamins that they can obtain from consuming beef.

From the primary research they undertook it became clear that the majority of people surveyed had never heard of the value of Vitamin B12 in red meat. It was unknown that lack of Vitamin B12 can cause so many side effects in the body like, fatigue, headaches, depression and mental impairment. They delved further into this discovery by interviewing a well-known nutritionist about the value of B12 to the body.

One of the most interesting facts they unearthed during the course of their research relates to the role of Vitamin B12 in preventing the onset of dementia.

The Newtownhamilton team also took the opportunity of deepened their knowledge of sustainable farming and, in particular, beef production.

This was achieved on the back of a host of fact-finding visits as Mrs Carol Alexander called them. Farms such as Dartrey farm, Rosemount farm, Eric Reid’s farm, as well as industry visits to Dale Farm, AFBI, Fane Valley, Loughry College, and ABP Newry.

A study tour to Belgium organised for all the finalists by ABP and Certified Irish Angus in late June of this year gave the team members and Carol Alexander the opportunity to reflect on the tremendous body of work they had amassed during the previous academic year. After this trip the inspiration of the Farm to Fork Festival gained momentum as one last big fundraising push before the final report was due.

Even when they weren’t in school, they were busy on social media promoting their work daily with news updates and interesting content to appeal to social media users on Facebook, Instagram and tik tok.

The ABP Angus Youth Challenge judging panel recognised that the Newtownhamilton team used every resource and influence available to them in generating an overwhelming public interest in their participation in the competition.

Moreover, their determination captured the imagination of their entire community who got behind them every step of the way.

In a very meaningful way Aimee, Ellen and Sophie managed to create a tremendous amount of fun and excitement. This was initially focused on their winning of the Angus calves.

So, with the prize now won, you would think that the girls might take the opportunity of putting their feet up for a while. In fact, the polar opposite is the case. They are currently putting the finishing touches to a new recipe book, which will be entitled ‘Just Beef’.

“Aimee, Sophie and Ellen are keen to complete the book over the coming weeks,” Carol Alexander commented.

“They believe it to be a fitting end point to their Youth Challenge journey.”

She added: “We can print the book courtesy of the facilities here at the school. However, if at all possible, we would like to hand the cook book over to a professional design and print team. It is also worth mentioning that this is no ordinary cook book, packed full of delicious beef recipes, it also documents all the events, visits and achievements of the girls on their ABP Angus Youth Challenge Journey. With all the proceeds from the sale of the bookgoing to the Dementia NI charity.”

Carol concluded: “The last 12 months have been a roller-coaster ride for everyone involved in the ABP Angus Youth Challenge.

“We all have got so much out of it and have learnt countless lessons that we can take into the future. But above all else, the competition has put our small school and our local community on the map.

“None of this was ‘too much like hard work’. The girls, their families and I all saw the real value in what they were doing from the start.

“Taking part in the competition has also complemented a lot of the work they would normally be doing in the classroom.

“Aimee, Sophie and Elleen will be sitting their final GCSE Food and Nutrition examinations next year. Competing in the ABP Angus Youth Challenge has, undoubtedly, taught them that every day is a learning day!”