UFU announce schools competition winners

Pictured delivering the UFU schools competition results are Lynsay Hawkes, BOIVFW schools coordinator and UFU communications assistant and Wendy Gallagher, BOIVFW project manager.

The initiative, led by the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), captured the imagination of families and foodies from across the province and gave a behind the scenes snapshot of the ‘farm to fork’ story virtually. The Friday was dedicated to school pupils and the highly anticipated school’s competition results were announced live on social media, from Blackberry Hill Farm, Co. Armagh. This year, the UFU in partnership with BOIVFW and competition sponsor Asda, challenged school pupils across Northern Ireland (NI) to “Dig in!” and put their creative skills to the test in celebration of the tenth event. The UFU are delighted to announce that the 2021 schools competition received over 7,000 fantastic competition entries, the largest volume of entries recorded to date! The 2021 theme was chosen to help Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend celebrate ten years alongside the UFU’s and Agri Aware’s ‘Dig in!’ resource. It was developed to help primary school children understand what happens on farms and to encourage pupils to learn more about food, farming and the countryside.

The schools competition offered an opportunity for teachers and parents to start the discussion in their homes and classrooms about the importance of food and farming in NI. This encouragement is vital to enable children to learn more about how farmers work hard to produce the delicious, high-quality food on our tables, and the many ways farmers look after the countryside. The UFU was delighted to welcome Asda on board again as competition sponsor with a range of fantastic prizes alongside the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) kindly providing a cookery demonstrator as part of the prize for each winning school. Not only will the winning pupils get the opportunity to sample some delicious local produce, but they will also be encouraged to think about the origin of food, the ‘farm to fork’ journey and the importance of farming and local food production in NI.

The UFU, BOIVFW and Asda would like to congratulate the winners of the 2021 schools competition:

Special schools: Lucia Kane - Beechlawn Special School, County Down.

Foundation (Playgroup, nursery and pre-school): Meadow Holmes - Ballynahinch Primary School (Nursery Unit), County Down.

Foundation (P1 and P2): Alesha Hilley - Edwards Primary School, County Tyrone.

Key stage 1: Reuben Callaghan - Lisnadill Primary School, County Armagh.

Key stage 2: Eimear Clarke – St Joseph’s Primary School, Galbally, County Tyrone.

The runners-up of the 2021 “Dig in! to 10 years of Open Farm Weekend” schools competition is as follows:

Special schools: Brooklynn Smith – Rossmar School, County Londonderry

Foundation (Playgroup, nursery and pre-school): Carly Smith - Ballymagee nursery, County Down.

Foundation (P1 and P2): Eva Gordon - Clough Primary School, County Antrim.

Key stage 1: Kyle Johnston - Irvinestown Primary School, County Fermanagh.

Key stage 2: Joey Donnelly – McClintock Primary School, County Tyrone.

If you missed BOIVFW’s online activities over the weekend, you can re-watch all the live streamed events, watch the 29 participating farm films and view the fantastic schools competition prize-winners entries including ‘What farming means to me’ news reports on Open Farm Weekend’s Facebook page and website (www.openfarmweekend.com).

To download the UFU and Agri-Aware’s “Dig in!” resource visit www.ufuni.org (resource tab) or contact [email protected].