Lonely farmers urged to keep talking to combat ‘darkest hours’ of winter blues
As the days get shorter and the nights longer, the winter months can be a dark and lonely time for Scotland’s agricultural workers.
Making sure they have the right support and a wider community to be a part of is a key aim of this year’s mental health campaign led by the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI) charity, who offer practical, emotional and financial support to those in the farming sector.
Last year, they received an average of 200 calls per month to their helpline, helping more than 900 people in the industry with a variety of concerns. Demand for their counselling services has trebled in the past year.
#KeepTalking encourages people working in the industry to take the time to pick up the phone or chat online to friends, family and neighbours.
“The campaign is a call to action for the whole farming community to look out for each other,” explains the charity’s chief executive, Carol McLaren.
“We know that even small acts of kindness can make a massive difference to someone who’s feeling low or lonely.
“It’s really hard to get people in farming to go to their doctor for physical health issues, never mind mental health.
“There’s a host of factors; the long hours, remoteness of location and that mentality of wanting to keep working and not taking the time out to look after themselves properly. People think they can’t get away from the farm.
“Our industry has a history of real challenge in terms of mental health and sadly suicide as well.
“The campaign is about empowering people to have the confidence to check in on someone and ask those questions and open that door so that people do feel confident to reach out and accept a bit of support.”
RSABI was founded as the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution in 1897 and has evolved over the years to meet the needs of the people involved in the Scottish agricultural industry, their families and dependents.
They first launched #KeepTalking during lockdown to assist those struggling with the isolation of living through Covid.
This year’s campaign is supported by special artwork produced by Perthshire artist Gill Wilson, with proceeds from sales going to the charity.
It comes during a period of uncertainty amid the cost-of-living crisis and changes in support for the industry.
The Scottish Government published in October the Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill, which aims to reform how it supports farming and food production in Scotland.
“The new framework will replace the current Common Agricultural Policy.
“There are going to be changes but what you’re looking at with farming is incredibly complex businesses anyway,” Carol says.
“Often you’ve got quite complex family dynamics as well, multigenerations working together in one business.
“It’s quite a unique industry in terms of the amount of time and thought. There’s so much that farmers and farm businesses can’t control in their business.
“We’ve had the recent flooding, which hasn’t helped at all. Farmers have lost a lot in terms of value and livestock and there’s the sheer stress of the tidy-up.”
The charity has a working collie dog called Hope that they use as an ambassador, and Carol reckons it’s a fitting name.
“That’s where our headspace is just now,” she said. “We’re moving into a period where people are embracing mental health and the things that we can do together to improve it more than ever.
“While there’s still, sadly, some stigma, there’s a lot more understanding. Hope is very appropriate because I think we’re on a very positive trajectory, lots of green shoots. Almost 400 people attended mental health first aid training in the past year who work in the front line – vets, agronomists, consultants, quality assurance assessors – and so the benefit of that with all these eyes and ears out in the industry could be huge.”
As well as the new artwork, the charity also benefits from fundraising surrounding the rescue of Fiona the sheep.
Earlier this month, the animal was rescued from the bottom of a cliff on the Moray Firth after hitting headlines as “the world’s loneliest sheep”.
RSABI and the Scottish SPCA were chosen to benefit from donations and fundraising following the rescue and rehoming of the stranded ewe.
“Aside from the money, I think that was a great example to remind us all of what is so special about the farming community,” Carol adds.
“Those people gathering together was a great example of our industry and the reception they’ve received from around the world was really heart-warming, it gave us all a lift.”