Farming Union hails its Unsung Hero at Turriff Show
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NFU Scotland’s north-east members presented their annual Unsung Hero award to Patrick Sleigh of West Fingask Farm, Oldmeldrum, at a reception held on the first day of Turriff Show earlier this week.
The Unsung Hero Award is presented annually and recognises a north-east member for their achievements and hard work on behalf of fellow farmers.
It was presented to Patrick by NFU Scotland president, Martin Kennedy, who expressed sincere gratitude to Patrick for all his hard work and effort over the years.
He has worked tirelessly on behalf of Central Aberdeenshire Branch, participating in the North East Combinable Crops Committee and chairing the North East Environment and Land Use (ELU) Committee.
Patrick is also vice chair of the Union’s national ELU committee.
Patrick received a limited-edition print of Osprey - Light Lunch from artist Angela Davidson and framed by Country Frames of Insch.
It was inscribed with the words: “Thank you for all that you do for our farming industry.
"Your constant determination and desire to drive change; pro-active communications with the press; single-handedly lobbying industry stakeholders and politicians; debating and leading on sensitive issues, and all for the benefit of fellow farmers.
"You are a stalwart and deserve this recognition, Patrick.
"Well done and keep up the great work!”
North East Regional Chair, Alan Simpson and his two vice chairs Bob Hay and Kevin Gilbert agreed unanimously on making the award to Patrick.
Mr Simpson said: “On behalf of the north-east membership, we are really delighted to be awarding this beautiful print to Patrick.
"His ongoing letters to the press on various topics, especially species management, and the work he carried out on taking Quality Assurance organisations to task, has been unrelenting.
"The determination and passion which Patrick exudes is incredible, and we really don’t know where he gets the energy to do so.
"The industry, however, are the benefactors of Patrick’s work and we are indebted to him for his drive and commitment.”
North East Regional Manager, Lorna Paterson, said: “Patrick is a very well deserving winner, and it is right that he is recognised in this manner.”
As part of the award reception at Turriff Show, the charity auction of donations led by Donald Young from United Auctions raised a significant sum for rural charity RSABI.
A raffle and donations for those who visited the NFU Scotland and NFU Mutual stand took the total to approximately £2300 which the region will present to RSABI soon.
