On Friday 13th September Caroline, Ellen and Nadia, from the Platts team, attended the Rearing to go conference in Shrewsbury. The “Rearing to Go” campaign’s Shrewsbury event has been organised by farmers Peter and Paula Hynes, the project was designed to raise awareness about mental health in the agricultural industry.
The event included various speakers, who shared their stories and their personal experiences with mental health, also speakers from organisations that have been built to offer help to those who are experiencing mental health problems and support for their family and friends.
Platts donated several vouchers for the auction, two of which were generously bid on by Halton Farms who went on to order a bulk load with their winnings.
The auction successfully raised donations for the Cheshire Agricultural Chaplaincy, DPJ Foundation and the Farmers Community Network.
In recent years mental health has become a more prominent topic of discussion in society and has been somewhat recognised as an extensive issue in the agricultural industry. In fact, research completed by the Farm Safety Foundation revealed that 80% of young farmers believe that mental health is the biggest hidden problem facing farmers today.
The office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that suicide rates in farmers are one of the highest in any occupational group, with approximately one farmer a week dying of suicide in the UK. With such alarming statistics being reported it has been members of the agricultural community that have responded by setting up organisations designed to offer a lifeline to those who are struggling. Some even speak publicly about their own experiences with mental health problems in hopes of not only giving others the confidence to ask for help, but also showing them that they are not alone.
At Platts we care a lot about issues affecting farmers, Platts was built by farmers and now works very closely with the agricultural industry. We want to promote positive mental health as much as we can. Over the next 12 months we hope to get more involved with positive mental health promotion, including having our staff undergo mental health first aid training. But our first step has been attending the Rearing to go conference. We hope to further develop relationships with contacts that we met at the event so that we can work together to tackle these issues and make sure that help is available to all of those who need it. So, watch this space!
If you or anyone you know are affected by mental health problems, you can find helpful information on the following websites:
This post was written by Ellen who joined the marketing team this month, find out a bit more about her here.
