Today's short debate is to be brought forward by Samuel Kurtz, so I will invite Samuel Kurtz to take the floor.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I have agreed to give James Evans, Rhun ap Iorwerth, Peter Fox, Cefin Campbell and Alun Davies a minute each of my time. I would like to declare an interest before I begin.

The Wales Federation of Young Farmers Clubs, known more commonly as Wales YFC, is a voluntary youth organisation and registered charity operating bilingually throughout rural Wales. My YFC life started as a spotty, brace-wearing 12-year-old dragged along to a club's panto practice by my older brother.

Member of the Senedd:

Oh no you weren't.

Oh yes I was. [Laughter.]

Now, a little older, with fewer spots but still with braces, I have the huge privilege of being Pembrokeshire YFC's chairman, and I'm proudly wearing my Pembrokeshire YFC tie today.

So why, then, have I in my first short debate in this Siambr felt the need to discuss Wales YFC? Is it the countless friends that I've made and continue to make through my involvement within this organisation? Is it the many skills that young people are able to learn and develop between the membership ages of 10 and 28? For me, as someone who has been through the movement, I think too few people outside of it actually fully understand, realise and appreciate what the YFC has to offer. 

Wales YFC was founded in 1936, and there are 12 county federations across Wales. The oldest club is Clunderwen YFC, a stone's throw from my own constituency, in my neighbouring constituency, Paul Davies's, of Preseli Pembrokeshire. This club was founded in 1929 by Mr E.R. Phillips, whose name is now given to the trophy presented to the Pembrokeshire club that has contributed the most to charity and their local community.

In the year prior to COVID, Wales had 4,645 members. Sadly, and understandably, membership dropped by more than 50 per cent in the year 2020-21 to 2,173. However, we have already seen a host of members return to the movement in the last couple of months as restrictions allow, and the upper age limit has increased from 26 to 28.

Young farmers clubs provide a meeting place for young people in rural Wales to socialise, learn new skills, compete and experience new things. However, the name is a bit of a misnomer, because you don't actually have to be a farmer to be a young farmer. Naturally, while there are many competitions that lean towards agriculture, from farm safety and fence erecting to flower arranging and stock judging, there are also competitions such as the on-stage pantomimes and dramas, public speaking, sports competitions and many more. There really is something for everyone.

This organisation in Wales is bilingual, with a number of competitions through the medium of Welsh, with the Young Farmers Eisteddfod shown on S4C very often. The Welsh language and culture of Wales are dovetailed with the young farmers organisation.

While Wales YFC is a charity itself, its members are never shy of raising some much needed funds for other charities, both local and national. My favourite YFC memory was when I was one of 27 other members and supporters of Pembrokeshire YFC who cycled the 250 miles from Haverfordwest showground to our national annual general meeting in Blackpool, over four days. We were hosted by another YFC on our stopover in Oswestry, and upon arriving in Blackpool were greeted by cheering, slightly intoxicated, crowds. As the dust settled and the saddle sores healed, mine included, the total raised was £27,000, split between Prostate Cymru and Wales Air Ambulance. 

The movement also offers accredited training and travel opportunities to far-flung corners of the world. It even offers what some would consider more simple things, such as how to chair a meeting successfully, and as a member of the Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee, I can see those excellent chairmanship skills in play as Paul Davies himself is a former young farmer member, and chairs the committee with excellent skills.

The constraints of the last 18 months, however, have meant that the movement has had to adapt. While club nights and competitions have moved online, young farmers didn't forget about their role in their locality. Throughout the pandemic, members across Wales served their local communities with distinction. Even before the first lockdown in March 2020, clubs were already organising shopping trips and prescription pick-ups for their most vulnerable neighbours. As the lockdown took hold, it was the YFC members, as part of the volunteer network, who supported our most rural and vulnerable. Members did this for no other reason than to support those who needed it, while, of course, many young farmers continued to farm the land, tend to their animals and look after their crops.

I was reminded of this when, on Sunday evening, at the Pembrokeshire YFC harvest thanksgiving festival, each and every club in the county donated a large hamper of food towards local food bank, PATCH. Even at a service where the young farmers could have easily sat back and been thankful for what they had, they were not only thinking of but supporting those who are far less fortunate—testament to the young farmers. Last week at the royal opening of the Senedd, Eleri George, past chairman of Pembrokeshire's Keyston YFC, was here representing her club as a COVID champion—a small acknowledgement of the many members who supported their communities throughout this time.

And that's really why I wanted to bring forward this short debate this afternoon on the YFC movement, because when some people want to tarnish the youth of today as selfish, lazy and rude, I can honestly say that those people must never have dealt with the conscientious, caring and selfless members of the young farmers clubs of Wales.

And if I may, Minister, listening on Zoom, I would like to link back to some of the points that your colleague the Minister for Economy mentioned in his statement yesterday. He talked about the Welsh Government's young person's guarantee, and how the Jobs Growth Wales+ programme would help to create life-changing opportunities for those who are not in education, employment or training. He also mentioned the value that supporting stronger local economies will have in helping to sustain the Welsh language amongst young people in rural Wales in particular. If this Government is looking for examples of where these aspirations are already in action, where young people are supported, their skills developed and the Welsh language sustained, then they need look no further than the YFCs of Wales, who've been producing conscientious young people in rural Wales for decades.

This afternoon's short debate for me has been a labour of love. I'm quite adamant that I wouldn't be here or be the person I am without the YFC, and for that, while some opposition Members may not be, I am eternally grateful. But how many young people out there could benefit from this organisation? How can we here help to support our local YFCs to recruit more members, improving the opportunities for those who may not have them? Therefore, I urge all Members listening to this debate, and what I can only imagine to be the many hundreds and thousands of people watching this debate live, to go and tell people that you know about what the YFC can offer the young people of Wales. And remember, you don't have to be a farmer to be a young farmer. Diolch.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to take part in this short debate, an opportunity to say a few words and, very simply, to say thank you. That's what I want to do today, to say thank you to the YFC that provides so many opportunities to young people in rural Wales, to say thank you for an organisation that makes such a contribution to rural society in Wales, for an organisation that does so much to promote the Welsh language in those communities, and thank you, of course, to the whole host of wonderful volunteers who support the whole thing. My own children have had so many valuable opportunities through the YFC, and it's still an important part of our family life. And in this recent period, it's been a support to so many young people and to their communities, and we now need to provide and offer that support back to the organisation in turn, as it faces the challenges that have been posed as a result of this pandemic. Without a doubt, it's one of the most important youth organisations in Wales. It's proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt in its first 85 years, and we should all be promoting it to ensure that it has a vibrant future too.

James Evans.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I hope you'll be flexible with my minute. I'd like to thank Sam Kurtz for giving a minute of his time today, but, more than that, I'd like to thank the whole of the YFC movement in Radnorshire for giving me the skills and the opportunity to be able to stand here today and speak in this debate. YFC does a huge amount of work to develop young people, from public speaking to helping charities, stock judging, teaching respect for communities and also finding your future love. [Laughter.]

YFC gave me the opportunity to represent my club of Rhosgoch at my county of Radnorshire, then to my country of Wales, and then national young farmers at the European council of YFCs. And to be able to represent young farmers from across the whole of England and Wales was a massive honour, and it was great. On Sunday, I was only giving back to an organisation that gave me so much by judging the public speaking competition, which was a fantastic standard, and well done to everybody involved.

YFC is a fantastic organisation, and personally I believe it is the best youth movement in the whole world. It's great, and I would like to thank everyone in the movement for the amazing work you do. As the previous YFC organiser for Radnorshire, Gaynor James, told me just after the election result, 'If it weren't for good old YFC, Evans, you wouldn't be where you are today.' And I'd like to confirm, if it wasn't for 'good old YFC', I definitely would not be here today. Diolch.

I'd like to congratulate the Member for Pembrokeshire for this—. Well, not the whole of Pembrokeshire; I can see Paul Davies bridling at me.

If it was possible to bottle the YFC, I think we'd have something you could sell and distribute worldwide. One of the great pleasures of life has been to work with young people preparing for a county rally, or watching some of the public speaking competitions, and I wonder how many marks we would have got this afternoon. And then, looking also at things like the drama festivals taking place. It's a fantastic organisation that does a fantastic job, and alongside the Urdd, I think we're blessed in Wales. We have two organisations that contribute so much to developing young people and to providing them with a fantastic start in life. What I would like to see is how we can continue to work with the YFC to ensure that not just the future of farming is safe, that the future of rural communities is safe, but that the future of this country is safe as well, and I think we all owe a great debt of thanks to the YFC for the work they do, day in, day out, and also for all the fun that they've been able to generate for many of us over too many years. Thank you.

Thank you to Sam for giving me a minute of his time to contribute to this important debate. Yes, we must recognise the huge contribution of the YFC, giving priceless experiences and skills for a lifetime for our young people. As Alun Davies said, we have seen so many of these young people developing and contributing to their communities when they're older and coming into very high positions in Wales, and the experience that they had with the YFC has been crucially important to them.

As many have already said, apart from being one of the most successful dating agencies in Wales, the YFC have given so many experiences to my children. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity. In the Amman valley, there wasn't a YFC, but my children have had excellent experiences of being members of the young farmers at Llanfynydd, and taking part in eisteddfodau, public speaking competitions and even tug of war and things as great as that. As Sam said, one of the things that has been very encouraging to me is to see these young people during the pandemic supporting their communities, as you said, by collecting prescriptions and shopping and so on and so forth.

Just two things quickly. Some 70 per cent of all young farmers clubs are in mid and west Wales. Now, I'm not going to have the opportunity to visit all of them, but I would like to see many of them over the next few years. But the most important thing in those areas is that they hold their activities through the medium of Welsh and welcome Welsh learners and develop their skills too. I would go as far as to say that the YFC is one of the most important language organisations that we have here in Wales, and may that continue for the future. All the best to the young farmers.

I'd like to thank Sam Kurtz for giving me a minute of his valuable time. I feel amongst friends today as we talk about this subject that binds us all together and it demonstrates the strength of the YFC movement in bringing us together. That movement has always been a fundamental part of the rural community: as Alun says, a key element of the fabric that binds all that is special about country life. I suppose I'm going to hark back to an older generation. I too had spots in those days, as I was growing up in rural Carmarthenshire, a member of St Cynog's young farmers club in the village of Llangynog. It was a place that really helped my personal development, for all of the reasons we've heard today. I remember going along to those public speaking contests, to the stock judging, to the preparation for rally, for the tug of war practice, for all of those things. That was 50 years ago, and it's still going strong today. But as Sam said, the young farmers movement isn't just a movement for farmers; it's a broad church, and even back those 50 years ago, there were people from all walks of life there. It's a proud movement that has so much to offer the young people of Wales. It brings out the very best of them, instilling confidence in creating well-rounded, strong and socially adjusted citizens who have an empathy and a love for the wonderful environment and the economies around them. We should never lose sight of our young farmers' contribution to rural life, and be ready to support them wherever we can. Long may it continue.

The Minister now to reply to the debate—Lesley Griffiths.

Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you very much, Sam Kurtz, for choosing such a fantastic topic for your first short debate. I'd like to thank other Members for their contributions too.

Through their activities, Wales's young farmers clubs provide unique opportunities for young people to develop their ambitions, their skills and their confidence, and these behaviours we know are absolutely invaluable as they look for employment, develop or take over an established farming business or seek to start new enterprises—or, indeed, become a Member of the Senedd, as we've heard from some of our new Members particularly today.

I think Sam raised a really important point when he said that sometimes, outside of the agricultural sector or our rural communities, young farmers clubs are a bit of a best-kept secret. I can't say that I was ever a member of a YFC, but I do remember—I'm trying to work it out—probably about 46 years ago being dragged to a local disco being run by a young farmers club, and the friend who dragged me there did indeed find her husband at the disco that night. 

On Monday, my colleague Vaughan Gething, the economy Minister, started a conversation on the long-term demographic challenges facing the Welsh economy and the need to support our young people to make their future in Wales. So, I would like to reassure Sam, because he referred to that, that the role of Wales YFC is helping us achieve the same, and I think, going forward, will really be invaluable for us. 

Our programme for government commits us to delivering our young persons guarantee, which is an ambitious programme that will aim to provide young people under 25 in Wales with support to gain a place in education or training, or support to get into work or self-employment. Wales already has many of the components in place to provide the basis for a good young persons guarantee. Young people have access to a wide variety of programmes that include traineeships, ReAct, community employability programmes, business start-up support and personal learning accounts, and partners such as YFC Wales do play a key part in supporting our young people to access such opportunities through the guarantee.

As a Government, we're also committed to developing an entrepreneurial culture, and through Big Ideas Wales, we want to inspire young people to be enterprising and help them on their journey to starting a business. Working with the YFC, Big Ideas Wales has provided inspirational role models for local meetings, providing business advice and support to their members looking to start a business. Similarly, the Welsh Government also continues to provide support for young entrants and those who want to enter the agricultural industry. Young people entering the industry ensure that a vibrant agricultural sector is maintained, ensuring employment opportunities so that young people can remain within their rural communities. It is essential, if we are to maintain viable and thriving communities, that young people have the confidence to achieve their ambitions within their rural communities.

The importance of this for the Welsh language was referred to by Sam and I don't think it can be underestimated, with the future of the language and our target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050 entwined with thriving rural communities. Our Welsh language division provides Wales YFC with a core funding grant of nearly £125,000 to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language within their programme of activities. This funding provides the Wales YFC office with over £63,000 to support their national initiatives and to fund a Welsh language development officer who is responsible for creating opportunities for young people to use the Welsh language, as well as supporting their members to become new Welsh speakers. The remaining £62,000 is distributed to all of the county federations, to be spent on specific activities to support the use of the language within each county.

We are all aware how significant a role the YFC plays in the lives of our young people in rural Wales—not least in recent years the steps that it has taken to raise awareness and mitigate the effects of mental health issues among its members. As a member of the Wales farm safety partnership, I know that the organisation has worked hard to reduce fatalities and accidents on farms by ensuring that its members are aware of how to reduce risks and also how to change behaviours.

When I received correspondence from the YFC last summer about the pandemic and the financial impact on the organisation, I asked my officials to meet with representatives of the organisation to explore possible avenues of support. I was pleased to hear that YFC was successful in its bid to the Welsh Government cultural resilience fund, having been awarded over £130,000 in 2020, with a further £87,000 awarded this year.

The enthusiasm and dedication of young people in Welsh agriculture and our wider rural communities is inspirational. As we have heard, there is no better example of this than during the pandemic. Even though the necessary COVID restrictions meant that clubs couldn't meet face to face, they continued to connect with each other and meet online. They supported their local communities by assisting and supporting those who were isolated and by helping key workers.

YFC members are a credit to their families, their clubs and wider rural communities. I am pleased that, as a Government, we continue to support the organisation, and I very much hope that Wales YFC, likewise, continues to support our young people who have a love for agriculture and rural life for many years to come. I look forward to many more entertaining and fun visits with YFC members over the coming months and years. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Thank you very much for an excellent short debate, everyone. That brings today's proceedings to a close.

The meeting ended at 18:37.