In March, Richard West was awarded a Fellowship of Royal Agricultural Societies Award by The Council for Awards of Royal Agricultural Societies (CARAS) in view of his ‘contribution to the practice and development of agriculture’. Richard worked at the College for many years and was the longest servicing member of the Agriculture team. He pioneered Higher Education in Agricultural Management at the College’s Cannington campus, and continues to work with the College as an Associate Lecturer.
Entry for the awards is by nomination only and is followed by an interview with two Fellows of the Royal Agricultural Societies. They assessed Richard on his achievements in the following activities:
- Entering students into national competitions, particularly the Pinnacle Awards, Farm Planner and Farmers Weekly Young Farmer of the Year
- Pioneered Higher Education in Agricultural Management at the Cannington campus
- His work as an External Examiner
- Farm consultancy work
- His position as Secretary of Somerset Centre of Management in Agriculture for 25 years
- Involvement in the Future Farmers programme
After the interview, the Fellows of the Royal Agricultural Societies commented,
“Richard is a stalwart encourager who delights in students achieving and making sound farm business plans”.
Richard is pictured above receiving the award from Mr Jim Godfrey OBE, at the House of Lords.
Find out more about studying Agriculture at Bridgwater & Taunton College on the course pages of this website or by calling our Information & Guidance Team on 01278 441234.
