South of England Agricultural Society announces Charity of the Year 2022

The Society is delighted to announce that Elizabeth Buchanan CVO LLD FRAgs will return as the charity’s President.

Elizabeth was President in 2020, but the pandemic meant working together was very limited, so the charity decided to invite her back for 2022.

Former Private Secretary to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and previously Press Secretary to Lady Thatcher, Elizabeth is a non-executive director of D.E.F.R.A., an advisor to Waitrose, Saputo Dairy UK and McDonald’s UK & Ireland.

She also sits on the BBC Rural Affairs Committee and runs her family’s organic beef farm in Nutley, East Sussex.

For 2022, Elizabeth has selected The Prince’s Countryside Fund as the Society’s charity of the year.

Established by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2010, the charity aim to improve the prospects of family farm businesses and the quality of rural life.

The Fund provides more than £1m in grant and initiative funding each year, supporting projects across the UK that help to provide a secure future for the countryside.

Elizabeth said: “Having visited the showground since my childhood and shown our Sussex Cattle there on many occasions, it is a huge honour and privilege to once again be appointed President of the South of England Agricultural Society. The Society sits at the heart of the farming community in the South East of England and, as agricultural policy undergoes its greatest change in seventy years, is perfectly placed to raise awareness and support through its shows and other charitable activities. I am enormously grateful that The Prince’s Countryside Fund, which cares for the people who care for the countryside and so looks after all of us, will be their Charity of the Year.”

Corrie Ince, Show Director of The South of England Agricultural Society said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Elizabeth has accepted the role of President again. Her boundless enthusiasm and passion for the land and our cause is second to none. Her selection of The Prince’s Countryside Fund as our charity to support throughout the year couldn’t be more fitting - supporting land-based industries and people with an interest or involvement in agriculture, horticulture and the countryside is central to our overall objective.”

Alongside Elizabeth, Tim Waters, Chairman of Mid Sussex Timber will be the Society’s Deputy President for 2022 in recognition of his outstanding support to the Society in many different roles for over 40 years, including as a trustee of the charity until recently.

For more information, visit www.seas.org.uk.