THE Farming Union of Wales has teamed up with charity Tir Dewi to create a new service designed to support vulnerable farmers.

Ffrind Fferm/Farm Friend will provide a simple and self-contained solution for farmers by farmers so that they can check in and check out their neighbour’s current state of mind with one quick call, morning and night.

Unfortunately the stigma of asking for help is still a huge barrier to farmers reaching out and services such as Tir Dewi and the DPJ Foundation see the tragic evidence of this all too often.

By establishing a Farm Friend phone network involving clusters of farms within a county area, the project aims to deliver a simple yet effective service whereby one farmer calls their neighbour to check in on them in the morning and then that neighbour calls theirs and so on.

The service will then be repeated in reverse in the evening with an opportunity to chat about the day’s events and discuss concerns with peers rather than someone who may be perceived as not understanding the issues farmers are faced with.

The project will be trialled initially in September in Gwynedd, then rolled out to the other counties across Wales.

It is anticipated that the pilot will involve men and women so there will be a balanced view regarding the amount of times that a conversation was held as a result of the question ‘how are you?’ being asked, as well as the nature of the issues discussed.

FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “This project takes into account my concerns about having a farm-based solution which doesn’t involve leaving the farm, taking valuable time out to attend appointments etc and means we will have someone who ‘gets’ what we’re talking about and tackles these issues in a simple, cost-effective manner.

“We are very excited about working in partnership with our recent External Award winners Tir Dewi to provide this much-needed service to farmers who are struggling on a daily basis but feel they have nowhere to turn.”

Having spoken with several interested farmers at the recent Merioneth Show, Llinos Owen, regional partners and fundraising manager for Tir Dewi said: “Despite this exciting new initiative still being very much in its infancy, I have already had several positive responses from farmers both male and female who would very much welcome this and who are keen to take part.”

One farmer’s wife who she spent time speaking with on the showground said: “I think it’s a brilliant idea, this will help farmers to talk more about issues.”

FUW and Tir Dewi hope to launch the project at the RWAS 2022 Winter Fair following the trial period.