A young farmers’ group shrugged off protests by vegan activists and went on to raise almost £2,750 at their family fun day.
Police were called to the event in south Ashford after a group calling themselves Kent Young Slaughterers began handing out leaflets offering a “fun-packed tour of your local abattoir”. While there were reports of some youngsters being upset by the spoof leaflet, the organisers pressed ahead with what turned out to be a hugely successful event.
“You know at some point it’s going to happen, but it didn’t spoil the day and it won’t stop the club from having future open days,” explained Laila Hameed, advisory committee member with Swan Young Farmers.
“It was slightly disruptive but everyone still cracked on and made the day as good an event as it could have been – and we raised a fantastic £2,735 for club funds,” added Laila, whose husband Ashley Pickford is club president.
Swan Young Farmers have a small area of land near Ashford’s Swan Centre, where they keep sheep which currently have lambs at foot. “We also have rabbits, chickens and ducks,” said Laila. “Most of the members aren’t from a farming background and looking after animals is a great getaway for them.”
The town-based club relies on getting on well with the local community, and that community turned out in force to support the fun day, which include lamb petting and a chance to ‘walk the sheep’. “It was an amazing turnout on a lovely sunny day,” said Laila. “We had 1,300 visitors inside the first half an hour. We lost count after that, but the final figure must have been around 2,000 visitors.”
Those visitors enjoyed a range of fun fund-raising stalls, food, crafts, raffles and other activities, for the most part shrugging off the unwanted protestors.
“Everyone has a right to their own opinions, but those opinions could sometimes be put across in a different way,” Laila summed up. “There were lot of uncalled-for comments that were made to small children and that wasn’t really fair. Youngsters really don’t need that when they are there for an afternoon out.”
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