27 August 2009

As we all know the students of today can become the leaders of tomorrow. Next month five College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) students will have the opportunity to take part in an exciting leadership programme called ‘Frontrunner’. This programme will inspire and challenge them to develop their personal characteristics and skills that they will need if they are to be at the forefront of the Agri-food industry in the future.

This programme is one of a number of educational programmes for leaders of all ages, backgrounds and sectors run by Common Purpose an international, independent, not-for-profit organisation.

Frontrunner is a four-day residential programme for pre-career leaders. Participants will go on visits across different sectors, be exposed to real-life leadership dilemmas, meet the leaders who hold the day to day responsibility for them and explore the skills required to be effective leaders in the workplace and the society we live in major agri-food organisations, including John Thompson & Sons Ltd, O’Kane Poultry and The Thomas Henry Foundation have sponsored the CAFRE student participation on the programme.

Three of the students, Allister Scott a Foundation Degree in Rural and Countryside Management student, Heather Hall a BSc Agriculture Technology student and David Archibald a Foundation Degree in Horticulture will be representing Greenmount Campus on the Frontrunner programme.

At a recent event at Greenmount Campus, CAFRE Director John Fay congratulated all the students on their successful applications and encouraged them to make the most of this excellent opportunity which will benefit them in their future careers in the Agri-food industry.

Representing Greenmount Campus on the Frontrunner programme are David Archibald (3^rd from right) and Heather Hall (1^st on right) with Dr Michael Mullan, Head of Higher Education, Greenmount Campus, Dr. John Orr (The Thomas Henry Foundation), Anne Gilmore (Common Purpose) and John Fay, CAFRE Director.