Askham Bryan College – Pilot Week 02
April 15, 2024
With lessons learned and a lot of behind the scenes work by Katie Rowland, the second pilot rural week at Askham Bryan College started with six beneficiaries from Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Army arriving to meet Anna, Katie and Pete on Sunday evening.
Monday began with an extensive visit to Castle Howard where Guy Thallon and other members of the team gave an insight into the running of a large country estate. The afternoon started with an interesting talk by Ginette Alexander at the Yorkshire Arboretum before heading back the college where Katie talked though skills training for the rural sector. Pete rounded off the day with a Wheel of Life presentation.
Another testing weather didn’t dampen enthusiasm on Tuesday when the team visited York Racecourse to talk about the racing industry and hospitality. A visit to Fulford Golf Club allowed a detailed discussion of sports turf management and grounds maintenance by the Head Greenkeeper, Carl. The afternoon saw a fantastic visit to Askham Bryan farm where Farm Manager Henry Abbis talked through dairy and beef farming. This was followed by an interesting introduction to Arboriculture by Matthew Metcalfe and Jonathan Chambers from Trees 4 Yew Danny Mawson, who has previously raised funds for HighGround, was the evening speaker.
Wednesday – a dry day! – started with a an online presentation by our Advisory Board member and regular rural week presenter, Jonny Kerr from Velcourt to discuss opportunities for service leavers and veterans in Agriculture. This was followed by a timely visit to Askham Bryan College Governor Mathew Parkin’s arable farm.
The afternoon was spent at exploring the incredibly successful diversification undertaken by Heather Copley at Farmer Copley’s So useful to see what can be achieved to save a family farm. Following this the group learned about agricultural engineering from Tom Harrington and his team at the College, including a spot of tractor driving!
The evening speaker was the inspiring Toni Harrington, who attended the first Askham pilot and has since gained a job she loves with the Environment Agency Her story is one that inspires and shows that despite setbacks, continuing to take small steps towards your dream area of work definitely pays off
An early start for a couple of the HighGrounders on Thursday saw them assisting with milking on the College farm before a hearty breakfast. Rural Week Alumni Ross Hocking welcomed everyone to PGL in Northallerton and everyone appreciated the opportunity to learn from his experiences getting into the land-based sector after he left the Army. Particularly interesting was the number of ex-military staff at that outdoor centre and the range of roles they hold.
On the way back to base the group stopped at Skipworth Common where Elizabeth Cooper talked about conservation.
The afternoon sessions started with a fascinating talk on beekeeping by David Wiseman, who keeps hives on the College grounds. Final session of the day was a presentation by Joe Bonner from HSBC Commercial about Agriculture finance and careers which provided incredibly useful information for the group.
The final day had a busy morning with presentations by long time HighGround supporter, Richard Wade , exploring the importance of networking, followed by a useful guidance session on recruitment opportunities by Michael Tait and Jenni Clements of Askham Bryan’s HR department.
Pete and Heather rounded off the week with a session about next steps and future HighGround support, before it was time to thank our HighGrounders for their energy and engagement and wish them safe journeys.
Thank you so much to Katie Rowland for putting together a fantastic week, and the rest of the Askham Bryan College team for looking after us so well and making us welcome.
Last word:
This is by the far most valuable thing I have done to support me outside the military
Photos from the week can be seen here
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