Page 13 - Oundle Life November 2024

RURAL
MENTAL
HEALTH
New charity launched
A new foundation has been launched to • Three people in the UK farming and
support and improve the mental health agricultural industry die by suicide every
of those living and working in rural and week
agricultural communities. • The top three barriers stopping men reaching
The Rural Communities Mental Health out are the stigma around mental health Foundation is primarily dedicated to supporting (18%), not knowing who to turn to (15%) and people in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, lack of awareness of support available (15%) and Bedfordshire. Its unveiling
coincided with World Suicide
Prevention Day on September 10, with
one of the foundation’s key aims to
reduce the number of people losing
their lives to suicide.
The co-founders are from farming backgrounds and their families have
been directly affected by suicide, so
understand the impact and devastation of losing a loved one in these circumstances.
Wider research on mental health in rural areas also reveals:
• The suicide rate for male farm workers is
three times the male national average
The nuances of agriculture are what makes it unique and rewarding,
but they can also make it extremely challenging. They include time spent alone, the impact of external socioeconomic and political factors, and the weather. It is not just those directly involved in farming that can
suffer from poor mental health – no one within a rural community is immune.
Having lost their brothers to suicide ten and five years ago respectively, The Rural Communities Mental Health Foundation co- founders Kate Scott and Lewis Hunter came
The co-founders are from farming backgrounds
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