AFI & AFA BEST PRACTICE DAY AT PLUMPTON COLLEGE
Nestling in the heart of the South Downs not far from Lewes in East Sussex you will find Plumpton College, which was the chosen venue for the first of the AFI’s Best Practice Days of 2024, held on the 15th March by the AFI in association with the AFA.
For those of you who may not be familiar with these organisations, here’s a quick refresher: The AFI’s (Association of Fencing Industries) aim is to represent its members from across the fencing industry in the UK, which includes: fencing manufacturers, suppliers, contractors and trainers across the full fencing sector – domestic, security, commercial, agricultural – by promoting safety, quality and professionalism. They do this by ensuring members are kept up to date with relevant technical information, new business opportunities and industry-wide news. They encourage members to adhere to a Code of Practice and have rigorous rules and strict standards. The AFA – Agricultural Fencing Association represent fencing in the agricultural sector with ongoing issues, and aim to increase standards, training and encourage more young people into fencing.
The event was described as, informative and educational, with a format some may be familiar with if they’ve attended similar events, this being primarily practical demonstrations by experienced and respected contractors, with an opportunity to network with others in the industry, along with the added benefit of this being an AFI event which included optional attendance to an introduction seminar on Business Finance and Estimating, Well-being advice and including an informative session by Pete Clark, CEO of the AFI on the benefits of AFI membership. The day started at 9.30am with attendees gathering at the Agri-Food Centre at Plumpton College for a very welcome breakfast roll and coffee. There was a very healthy attendance of over 150, comprising mainly fencing industry professionals and some students from Plumpton College, according to Victoria Walker, AFI Support Manager, who was on-hand to welcome everyone. After a welcome introduction by Pete Clark, including a Health and Safety briefing and special thanks to the lead sponsor of the event; Tornado Wire and additional sponsor Scanpole, the gathering was divided into four smaller groups, each of which was assigned to pairs of experienced fencing contractors and ushered out into a nearby field to begin the demonstrations.
The weather did its best to remind us that in England in March you can expect anything, namely a very stiff south-westerly wind with plenty of precipitation. Luckily fencers as a breed are a hardy folk and are not easily deterred. The trainers for the event included winners and runners up of the British Open Championship, UK Fencing Timber Championship and the Tornado Wire Fencing Competition, so they were an extremely experienced, enthusiastic and forthcoming group, who were great at engaging with their audience, giving tips, lots of advice and responding to queries as they worked. Special thanks to them all: James Corbett, Rob Bell, Charlie Wright, Peter Redgwell, Mark Evans, Nic Quan, Jono Bradley, Rory Samson & Stuart Miles, and also Pete Clark for giving their time free to further the knowledge for contractors to increase the standard of countryside fencing.
Demonstrations included: How to adapt techniques for strainers, strutting, turners and wire work in different conditions, four lines of fencing – two in metal and two in wood, using Deer netting, Horse netting with Horserail and stock fencing and also other materials, not just wooden posts. The demonstrations carried on for several hours until a well needed break for some lunch, which was served out in the field, adjacent to the sponsors Tornado Wire and Scanpole and several other suppliers’ stands, one of which offered info on ‘LineSearch Before You Dig’ service identification advice for anyone involved in breaking ground to avoid utility assets, which could be a must for fencers.
Anyone wishing to take advantage of Pete Clark’s seminar could head back to the main building at this point to benefit from his advice and wise words, I noticed he had a fair few takers. Whereas the remainder of attendees mingled and took time to catch up with old friends, or network, before the fencing demonstrations continued for the rest of the afternoon.
It’s always good to chat to people at events like this, to find out where they’ve come from and to hear what they have to say, what their reasons are for attending and what they ‘take away’. I noted that many people had come from all over the country, not just the surrounding counties but North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridge and the Midlands, to name but a few of the locations. Reasons for attending were along the lines of: wanting to keep up with new techniques and developments, keen to learn about smarter ways of working, picking up tips and tricks, finding out more about working with steel rather than using timber, just because they’ve always used wood and also finding an alternative to creosote, because of safety reasons. So there was some interest in the Scanpole fence posts made from slow grown Nordic Scots Pine with their copper based treatment, which gives them a forty-year plus life span.
Happily enthusiasm was very high and it is great to witness how passionate fencers at the ‘coalface’ are in general about their industry, even in the tough times that are being experienced by everyone these days. Well done and many thanks to the AFI and AFA for delivering an inspiring, positive and valuable event.
For more info visit www.afiorg.uk
