A FREE breakfast event for retired farmers to gauge interest in forming a new social group has proved a success. 

Richard Sampson, FCN Regional Support Officer and Tamlyn Fraiquin speaking at the breakfast

Around 50 people flocked to The Red Deer pub for the first meeting of the Crediton and Area Retired Farmers Group on Tuesday, April 16.  

Crediton and Area Retired Farmers Group 2
Dozens went to The Red Deer for the event (Will Goddard, Crediton Courier)

The event was organised by local charity Involve Mid Devon and supported by the Farming Community Network (FCN), which paid for the breakfast. 

Crediton and Area Retired Farmers Group 3
Tamlyn Fraiquin of Involve Mid Devon, right, organised the event and the Farming Community Network paid for it (Will Goddard, Crediton Courier)

Involve’s Crediton Community Builder Tamlyn Fraiquin, who comes from a farming family, told the Courier there are fewer opportunities nowadays for farmers to mingle. 

“My role is to look at where we have gaps or needs across the communities,” she said.  

"We're losing a lot of the places and environments where we can socialise. We're losing markets, we're losing village parks, we're losing farm sales.  

“My dad would always have gone to the farm sale and had a coffee and just gossiped and chatted.  

“It's those sorts of environments we're losing, and as we all know, being out and being part of the community and seeing people and just chatting is really good for us.” 

More regular events are expected soon. These could be anything from a trip to a garden centre to a tour of somewhere farming-related nearby, depending on what group members would like to do. 

If you would like to join the group or share ideas for future events, you can contact Tamlyn Fraiquin by email at [email protected] or by telephone on 07719 014912.