Alan Somerville, Senior Development Officer of Cunninghame Housing Association, recently presented a cheque for £1,000 to Susan Bicket, Secretary of the Dumfries & Galloway Agricultural Society.
The funding provided by Cunninghame Housing Association will assist with the promotion of the Show online and local advertising. This will be extremely beneficial to the Committee, given the huge costs involved for such a large event which attracts 10,000 – 12,500 people.
The Dumfries & Lockerbie Agricultural Society is a charitable organisation run by a voluntary committee. Following the amalgamation of the Dumfries and Lockerbie Agricultural Shows, first held in 1962. Their aim each year is to hold the Dumfries Show which is now considered to be the largest one day shows in the country. It is a traditional agricultural show which is held on the first Saturday in August each year, this year it’s 6 th August 2022.
Dumfries, being primarily a livestock producing area, prides itself on the quality of the livestock on display, with the quality of dairy, beef and sheep sections second to none. There is a very large and growing horse section with an extensive array of different classes. The Show also has a goat section, including milk trials. There are also sections for stick making, a large craft area, a food festival and cookery theatre, a young farmers section as well as a huge array of stands throughout the Show field.
The Society also aim to put on an entertaining, educational show in a safe environment for all the family whether they are involved in farming or not.
To make the Show happen, involves a lot of work – approximately 400 volunteers assist with the organising of the event as well as on the day itself. The Show normally takes from one year to the next to organise due to the scale and size of the event.
Frank Sweeney, Group Chief Executive of CHA commented, “What a fantastic event for the people of Dumfries & Galloway, giving everyone an opportunity to attend such a large-scale event which has so much to offer, whilst creating that all important community spirit”.
The funding for Dumfries & Agricultural Society came from the Association’s “Making Our Communities a Better Place Fund” which operates throughout the year (1 st April 2021 to 31 st March 2022) until the allocated funding is exhausted.
Local Groups or individuals interested in finding out more about the Associations Making Our Communities Better Places Fund can do so by visiting https://cunninghamehousing.org where you can also download an application form.
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