The Prince of Wales has launched a new mental health strategy designed to support farming and rural communities who live and work on Duchy of Cornwall land.
Prince William said prioritising farmer's mental health was important to him and he hopes to help ‘de-stigmatise' the issues within the farming community with a plan he has helped to develop over the past year.
See also: How a mental health charity is helping farmers to overcome mental health barriers
The Duchy of Cornwall said farming can be a ‘lonely and pressurised profession' and it was important to raise provision for mental health with one farmer losing their battle with mental health each week in the UK.
The work of the Duchy of Cornwall and its tenants goes far beyond what you might imagine…
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal)
Its new Mental Health Strategy has a particular focus on rural communities, just like the one here in Hereford we visited today.
To launch the strategy, Prince William said he has partnered with the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, The Farming Community Network and Hereford-based charity, We Are Farming Minds, co-founded by Duchy of Cornwall tenants, Sam and Emily Stables.
Trained staff will be on hand for farmers, along with a dedicated wellbeing service, with the aim of ‘making a difference for rural communities'.
Trigger warning: suicide
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal)
In the UK, at least one farmer a week takes their own life.
It's a harrowing statistic that shows just how important The Duchy of Cornwall's new Mental Health Strategy is going to be.
Matthew Morris, rural director at The Duchy of Cornwall, said he was proud to be part of a project which hopes to make an active difference to its farmer tenants.
"Mental health is an incredibly important conversation to have, especially in the farming community," he added.
"Talking about mental health in rural communities can be difficult and is often stigmatised, so one of things The Duchy want to do with the new Mental Health Strategy is to de-stigmatise the conversation and make it normal to talk about mental health."
See also: King Charles visits dairy farm in Lincolnshire to learn about cheese making process
