Welsh students unite

Posted 17 March 2011

Watch the video on our YouTube channel.

Harper Adams students from across Wales united for the annual Harper Cymru dinner on Tuesday March 16.

Harper Cymru is a club for Welsh students. The members organise and take part in a variety of social events throughout the year, culminating in the annual dinner, when one committee steps down and the newly-elected one is announced.

Outgoing treasurer Matt Barkley, 20, said: “After a lot of planning, the dinner turned out to be a huge success. We filled the venue to capacity and then filled it with laughter - the guest speaker was brilliant!

The venue for the dinner was the Shropshire Golf Club, a short drive from the Harper Adams campus, and guest speaker for the evening was Carmarthen farmer Derek Rees, who had the room in stitches with his colourful anecdotes about being a farmer and a Welshman, and who concluded to rapturous applause.

After Mr Rees’s speech, Harper Adams Principal Dr David Llewellyn announced the winner of the Harper Cymry/ Royal Welsh Agricultural Society student award 2010: Wynne Davies (BSc Rural Enterprise and Land Management) from Mold in Flintshire.  He will be formally presented with his award at the Royal Welsh Show in July.  Dr Llewellyn reminded all the students that they would be welcome at the Harper Cymry reception at the Royal Welsh, on July 21.

Next up was the committee handover, with Matthew Williams, 20, taking up the reins as Harper Cymru Chairman.  As a final act in support of the club, the outgoing committee members, who will head out for their year in industry this summer, allowed themselves to be auctioned off to the highest bidders. The auctioneer was final-year student Owain Harries, who brought plenty of entertainment to this fundraising activity.

With bids of up to £60 sealing the deal for each of the first five lots – outgoing committee members Emily Church, Gerallt Hughes, Matt Barkley, Chris Taylor, plus honorary committee member and valued supporter Carwyn Rees – the tables were turned and Owain himself became the prime stock on offer. All money raise will be ploughed back into the club, to ensure there’s never a dull moment in the year ahead.

Matt Barkley added: “It is wonderful to be a part of Harper Cymru and to have been on the executive was an added bonus. This club is a brilliant chance to get to know people from Wales and a chance to make some fantastic friends.

“I first came to Harper not knowing a single person and now, thanks to Harper Cymru, I know a lot of people and not just that, I know a lot that live really close to me. I have some amazing friends who I know I will stay in contact with for a long time to come!”

The dinner also provided an opportunity for prospective students from Wales to join in the fun and sample the Harper Adams social life – and seven visitors did just that, having learned about the serious side of Harper study on the campus earlier that day.