A Willowbridge pupil has been awarded first place in the Special School section of the 2023 ‘Farming through the seasons’ schools’ competition run by the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), in partnership with Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend (BOIOFW) and competition sponsor Asda.

Conor Cassidy’s entry was praised by UFU Deputy President William Irvine, who said: “Congratulations to Conor, who was awarded first place in the Special School category in this year’s competition.

“Conor’s picture of a tractor and trailer was superbly decorated, and utilised a variety of materials.

“We received 6,245 fantastic competition entries this year; every year we are impressed by the standard and creativity of entries, and this year was no different. The effort and time that pupils, teachers, parents and guardians put into the competition was evident, as all of the entries were of the highest standard, and I would like to thank Willowbridge School for contributing to this.”

He added: “I hope that by participating in the competition this year, it created an opportunity for teachers, parents and guardians to start the discussion about the importance of food production, farming and our unique family farm structure in Northern Ireland.

“We hope the pupils enjoyed participating in this year’s competition and have learnt how farmers work hard 365 days of the year throughout the various seasons to produce the nutritious, high-quality produce on our tables.”

Conor is pictured with UFU Communications Officer and BOIOFW schools’ coordinator, Lynsay Hawkes, along with Simon Harron, Asda Enniskillen Community Champion, and some of Conor’s classmates, all enjoying a visit to Mullygarry Farm, Co. Fermanagh.