An inspirational Herefordshire farming couple have been awarded a coveted National Lottery Award in recognition of their mental health work in the community.
BBC Countryfile presenter, John Craven OBE, visited Kings Pitts Farm in Kingsthorne near Hereford to present couple Sam and Emily Stables with their award.
The farmers have won this year's National Lottery Award's Community category in the 2022 National Lottery Awards.
The Stables set up the We are Farming Minds charity in September 2020, following Sam’s own personal experiences of poor mental health and a suicide attempt.
The National Lottery funded charity helps raise mental health awareness in rural Herefordshire and supports the wellbeing of farmers across the country.
Sam Stables dreamed of being a farmer but found it hard to cope with the isolation that came with the job.
Working in a rural area, the demanding nature of his lonely and exhausting work took its toll on his wellbeing.
Figures show that poor mental health is 46 percent higher in farming than in other occupations, yet rural communities have less access to support.
Seeing no way out, the father-of-two prepared to take his own life while wife Emily was at work. But what sounded like a final “I love you” conversation with him led them to alerting a neighbour, who thankfully found Sam just in time.
Sam realised that it would have helped if there had been someone he could talk to about his mental health battles before he really began to struggle.
So the couple joined forces to set up We Are Farming Minds, a charity which aims to break the stigma surrounding isolation, loneliness and mental health that is prevalent within the farming community.
Two National Lottery grants amounting to nearly £150,000 have enabled Sam and Emily to provide a dedicated 24-hour helpline, a service staffed by them and a team of specially trained volunteers.
The charity also employs a dedicated Project Manager, funds counselling, and gives mental health awareness training to the wider agricultural community.
They are taught how to spot the signs of mental illness when visiting farmers and how to offer support.
And they have already trained about 200 people and hope to reach more than 500 farmers through their various support networks.
Sam said: “It’s fantastic to get recognition and to know that there's a real need for the services we offer. The feedback we get has been amazing and to know we’re making this kind of impact is pretty special.
"It can be a very lonely job. I reached a crisis point and I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and, after a thankfully failed attempt to end my life, I saw the light.
"With the support from my wife, we decided to create a charity that offered farmers like me a judgement free space. It’s what farmers do – we all stick together no matter what.”
As winners of the Community category, the Stables will receive a £5,000 cash prize for their organisation and a National Lottery Awards trophy.
