2025 marks the Farming Community Network’s 30th anniversary, as well as the launch of their new three-year strategy. We caught up with Jude McCann to understand how the charity has evolved, its latest developments and its vision for the future.
Our volunteers understand farming life and its unique pressures and challenges. We are here to “walk with” people through any issues, whether personal or business related, helping them to find a positive way forward. Key to our vision over the coming years is taking a proactive approach to engendering positive health and wellbeing in farming and rural communities. We want to help farming people before they reach a point of crisis. Normalising conversations around mental health, such as through the great work of the Mind Your Head campaign, is pivotal in encouraging people to ask for help, and to feel more confident in supporting others.
Resources
Through our FarmWell platform, we can provide a wide range of helpful resources to support farmers, their families and their businesses. FarmWell receives approximately 10,000 visitors each year and contains information around topics such as succession planning, rural crime, health and wellbeing.
A key aim of FarmWell is to support farmers in building personal and business resilience. In a sector facing considerable change and unique pressures, the ability to “weather the storm” has never been more important.
Events
Our farming and rural communities are vital, and we are helping to build networks of support through FarmWell events across England and Wales. These events are well-attended and help us address the issues of loneliness and isolation. Farmers who have attended FarmWell events have appreciated them immensely, with a number saying that it is the first time they have taken time off-farm in a long while.
Partnerships
Our new partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support demonstrates the value of local connections and collaboration. We are working together with industry stakeholders to raise awareness of cancer risks, signs and symptoms in farming, rural and migrant worker communities. Through our #NipItInTheBud campaign, we are encouraging early detection of cancer, urging farmers to get their health checked and to address any health concerns they may have sooner rather than later.
Proactivity
It is encouraging to see so many within farming taking a more proactive approach to health and wellbeing. There is a temptation to put family, livestock, machinery and crops first, and our own health can take a backseat as a result.
Farmers are the number one asset on any farm, and we hope the sector will continue to work collaboratively towards creating a healthier and more resilient future for our farming community.
For more information visit www.fcn.org.uk or call 03000 111 999 in confidence 7am-11pm, 365 days of the year.
