The Lincolnshire Agricultural Society is keen to make a difference to the community by supporting local groups and organisations that operate within the agricultural and charitable sectors. Every year the society elects to support a charity and in 2006 the members helped to raise the profile of the Lincolnshire Rural Stress Network which offers support and advice to farming families throughout the county.

This year the nominated charity is the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. This is a dedicated medical air service which provides an important and sometimes vital additional patient care service for our most critically ill and injured patients.

Based at RAF Waddington, south of Lincoln, and unaffected by road congestion, country roads, heavy vehicles or road works, the helicopter can reach any destination in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire in 19 minutes. While the medical aircrew and most of the equipment on the Air Ambulance are provided by the Ambulance Services, all other costs, amounting to approximately £1,300,000 each year, have to be raised by public donations.

The society also gives financial support by way of subscriptions, affiliation fees and grants to organisations and bodies within the agricultural industry such as the Lincoln Red Cattle Society. Besides the financial assistance it provides, the society gives help and advice to numerous groups and local bodies including the Lincolnshire Federation of Young Farmers and the Lincolnshire Federation of Women’s Institutes.

The Farm Lincs Committee, established by the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society in 1988 to assist in the development of the county’s agricultural industry and its countryside, is responsible for the society’s educational activities. The committee provides funds for a ‘Lincolnshire Award’ as part of the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust. The society sponsors a Lincolnshire candidate who has applied for a Nuffield Scholarship to study a topic of their choice in agriculture, land management, horticulture or the food chain. The society also awards prizes to leading students at the University of Lincoln’s Riseholme Park campus which is home to the university's agriculture, animal-related and biological science courses.

Every year the FarmLincs Committee organises a Spring Lecture which has become an important event in the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society’s calendar, and 2007 will be no exception. In the past topics discussed have included biofuels and bio-packaging, whether or not Lincolnshire should be farmed and the opportunities for barley barons to become oil barons.

The Farm Lincs Committee also administers the Linc Farms fund which has been established by the society in association with Lincolnshire County Council to provide visits to farms for school and community groups particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. To find out more about the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society’s charitable activities please call 01522 522900 or 524240.