Our charity

Lincolnshire Agricultural Society

Our charity

Hello - we're the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society

Home of the historical Lincolnshire Show, our incredibly diverse venue is so much more than just a showground. For more than 125 years our business has been a pinnacle within the community, providing the perfect space and flexibility for a whole host of events.

Our 270 acres of multifunctional space is based just four miles north of Lincoln city centre, and we're proud to have gained a reputation for both organising and hosting outstanding events, plus our year round Education programme.

The Lincolnshire Showground is owned by the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, a charitable organisation established back in 1869. Its objectives are to educate the county about food, farming and a sustainable environment.

Becoming a Lincolnshire Agricultural Society member helps our charity to promote food, farming and the Countryside to school pupils, consumers and farmers themselves through events, advice and a support network available to all.

Membership Meet the team 2023 Accounts AGM Minutes

LAS Trafford Farm Fund

Miss Sheila Trafford Bequest

Sheila Trafford passed away on 5th January 2015 and probate was granted on 1st February 2016. Sheila’s wish was that the farm should be used “for the support and education of young people in agriculture”. The farmhouse was unoccupied since Miss Trafford’s death and it was decided to renovate the house and let on the local market from May 2018. Until the Autumn of 2019 the land was farmed under various annual agreements organised by J H Walter. Since October 2019 we have a young tenant occupying and farming the land in a modern and sustainable manner. It has been necessary to improve the drainage on some of the farm, particularly due to the very wet autumn of 2019, this aspect will need further attention over the coming years. A total of over £180,000 has been spent thus far on bringing the house and farm up to a better standard.

As a result of the letting of both the house and the land, the LAS receives an appreciable rental income, some of which has been put towards the cost of a second Education Officer for the Society and further funds applied to help local young farmers to attend events such as the Oxford Farming Conference and attend courses like the Advanced Course in Agricultural Business Management, run by the Worshipful Company of Farmers. There have been 9 successful candidates for these events so far and we are hopeful of many more applicants in the future.

The Lincolnshire Agricultural Society is proud of its County and hence we are keen to support local residents and organisations with grant funding, the process adopted and indeed and the relevant application documents are available below, please note that the closing date for applications is 31st July each year, we look forward to receiving submissions for all aspects.

Chris Rothery, Chairman, LAST Fund

Fund Guidelines Application Process Application Form

Charity of the year 2024

This year Lincolnshire Agricultural Society has chosen to support Cancer Research UK who provide crucial support and services for communities both in Lincolnshire and nationwide. 

Cancer Research UK are the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving and improving lives with research, influence and information. In the last 50 years, they have helped double cancer survival in the UK, and the pioneering work is continuing to save lives, here and around the world.

Cancer Research UK want to bring about a world where everybody can lead longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
A world where:

  • Some types of cancer are effectively eliminated
  • Many more are prevented from developing in the first place
  • People who do develop cancer are diagnosed at the earliest possible stage so they can be successfully treated
  • Treatments are more effective, kinder and more targeted, so people can lead better, more fulfilling lives
  • Everyone shares in this progress equally, regardless of who they are, where they’re from or what type of cancer they have

To find out how Cancer Research UK could support you or to find our more about this amazing charity visit there website here.

Cancer Research UK

Here at the Lincolnshire Showground we are passionate about the environment. We have taken steps to reduce our energy consumption, lowering our carbon emissions for our loved local community. As a business we have invested in LED lighting. This will make a huge difference to the environment and this is just the start of our sustainable journey.

To help us invest in these energy saving measures we had support from Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire. Through this we received a grant of £12,300.93 to enable us to make these changes. 

The £9.2 million Smart Energy programme has been part funded by the European Regional Development fund. This is enabling small to medium businesses across the Greater Lincolnshire area invest in energy saving technology.

Get the latest from The Showground