Tockwith Show secretary Les Wake commended (From York Press)

Tockwith Show secretary Les Wake commended

9:46am Tuesday 7th April 2009

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THE secretary of a traditional country show in North Yorkshire today revealed he had been commended – along with some “big names” – for his hard work in promoting rural life.

Les Wake managed to get to the last four of the Countryside Alliance’s Rural Hero award – joining TV presenter Janet Street-Porter – after beating off competition from hundreds of hopefuls.

The Tockwith Show secretary travelled to the House of Lords for the final, where he was also up against eventual winner Ian Pigott, from Hertfordshire, and hunt-supporting chef Clarissa Dickson-Wright.

Les, of Whixley, said: “It was brilliant. It was nice to see the other finalists and meet the other category finalists and also to meet some MPs and the Countryside Alliance executives.”

Les said that, while he was disappointed not to have won, he was pleased he had got as far as he had.

As well as being the show’s youngest ever secretary – he is 40 and in his third year in the post – Les is chairman of the Federation Of Yorkshire Shows, and a trustee for the North Yorkshire Forum For Voluntary Organisations. “I promote the rural side to that,” he said. He is also determined to get more young people involved in the countryside and agricultural shows.

Les, who is a manager with Network Rail, said he became involved with the show after suffering a serious illness, and decided that he wanted to give something back to the community.

Since his tenure as secretary began, he has introduced a youth committee for the show, which began with only two members but now has 15.

He also set up a Green Menu for this year’s show – which coincides with Yorkshire Day on August 1 – with everything on the menu in the members’ tent coming from Yorkshire.

His nomination for Rural Hero said: “Les is a tireless champion of farming, starting initiatives such as the Green Menu and creating a youth committee in order to retain farming’s important heritage. The nominations for Les were warm and extremely admiring of his energy and commitment – his fans feel he is a true Rural Hero.”

Asked about his plans for the future, Les said: “I’m just going to carry on giving as much to the charitable work that I do as I possibly can in the same way that I have been doing. I’m not changing, I’m just happy to carry on the way I am.”

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