A Show stopper

GYS cancellation was inevitable

TO CALL off the Great Yorkshire Show now, nearly four months ahead of this annual celebration of farming and food, is another measure of the seriousness of the coronavirus crisis.

Yet it also reflects well on the responsible stance taken by Yorkshire Agricultural Society who have demonstrated, with this early announcement, that public health must come first.

And while the decision will not have been taken lightly by organisers, it means that the coming days, and weeks, can be spent prioritising efforts to support food producers in these trying times.

All those, young and old, in despair at this inevitable news have an opportunity to see if they can help agriculture in other ways.

From awareness campaigns about farm shops and locally-sourced produce as shoppers besiege the supermarkets to fundraising for those people working on farms, or in rural businesses, who will face genuine financial hardship, the YAS will perform an invaluable role co-ordinating this effort.

It should also draw inspiration from the Leeds Cares appeal which is urging businesses to help support the 18,000 NHS staff working in the area’s hospitals, GP surgeries and so on.

The brainchild of local businessman Edward Ziff who will be forever in the debt of the NHS for curing his son Jacob of childhood leukaemia, it is appealing for donations from £10 to £1,000.

Emblematic of Yorkshire’s famed generosity of spirit, it is yet another reminder of the care and compassion towards others that will help to get the whole county, urban and rural, through a societal crisis like no other.