A lifeline for our farmers

A charity which supports farmers and their families is marking a special anniversary this year

- CATHERINE COURTENAY

For many of us, isolation is a new experience, something to cope with until the coronavirus situation eases. However long it takes, we know there will be an end to it.

But isolation is par for the course if you’re a farmer. And farmers are always ‘working from home’.

“You’re living where you work and never normally away from it,” says Joanne Jones. “And there are pressures in this business that are beyond your control.”

Jo and her husband William are tenanted farmers with 250 dairy cows at Down St Mary near Crediton. Along with Colin Smallacombe, Jo is one of the Devon county coordinators for the charity Farming Community Network, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary. The charity provides free support for farmers and their families, both practical help – anything from help with TB or tenancy issues – to relationship problems and illness.

The charity was founded in Northampton by farmer Christopher Jones; it was a joint project between the Agricultural Christian Fellowship and Germinate: The Arthur Rank Centre and it was initially called The Farm Crisis Network. With its Christian ethos, the concern was trying to prevent the rising number of suicides in the farming community, the result of stress and uncertainty due to low commodity prices in the 80s and 90s. The situation became worse in 2001 with foot and mouth disease, which saw suicide numbers soar.

The charity set up a national network of volunteers to support farmers during the outbreak, along with a national helpline.

Jo got involved 10 years ago, initially as a volunteer, then as a coordinator.