Severn Wye’s Welsh team was out in full force over four days at the Royal Welsh Show – one of the country’s biggest annual events.
The pinnacle in the calendar for agricultural shows, the Royal Welsh hosts four days of livestock and equine competition, with activities and displays on forestry, horticulture, crafts, countryside sports and of course, shopping, food and drink.
It attracts a huge audience from across Wales and was a great opportunity for us to join the ‘Farming Fit’ area of the show. Farming Fit is an outreach programme launched last year to support the health and social wellbeing needs of farming communities in Powys.
It’s delivered through a partnership between Powys County Council, Powys Teaching Health Board, and Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations (PAVO), and we were delighted to be asked to take part.
It may not be the most obvious venue for giving energy efficiency advice, but we know rural communities can be hard to reach, so attending events like these is an important way we can build awareness of energy issues and bring our services to this otherwise dispersed community.
Manning the stand over a four-day event meant most of Severn Wye’s Welsh team had the chance to chat to attendees who had come from far and wide – many farmers who were showing animals. There was no shortage of interest at our stand, and everyone we spoke to had noticed the increase in energy costs to their businesses and become more conscious about their energy use as a result.
This is a community that knows how to innovate. Many told us they have already adopted low-carbon technology while one was looking for help to install a wind turbine, and we have worked with multiple agricultural businesses in Wales that have ambitious net zero targets. We’re proud to have helped them work towards those ambitions and you can find out more about what they did the savings they’ve made on our Showcase site.
