“DON’T be afraid to ask for help.”

These are the inspiring words of Richard Sampson, a volunteer at the Farming Community Network (FCN).

I travelled across the county to meet Richard at his 200 acre farm in North Tawton, where he has 30 suckler cows and lives with his wife Charlotte.

After driving down numerous lanes, I began to realise that farming can be a very secluded lifestyle, especially if you are busy seven days a week, or even working alone most of the time.

So I went to speak to Richard about his work at FCN – and why it is so important to ask for help. FCN is a farming charity that started in 1995 and played a key role in helping those affected by the foot-and-mouth outbreak. Now, the organisation has a network of more than 400 volunteers across England and Wales. Volunteers provide free, confidential, pastoral and practical support to anyone who needs help.

Richard and Charlotte started volunteering for FCN about four years ago. Charlotte’s experience as a mental health nurse has been extremely helpful, but Richard said they both chose to volunteer as they both want to help their neighbours, and as Christians, this is very important to them.

FCN was and is founded on Christian principles. The organisation was founded by Christopher Jones MBE in 1995. It was set up as a joint venture between the Agricultural Christian Fellowship (ACF) and Germinate: The Arthur Rank Centre.

Richard said: “Christopher was inspired by a piece from the Bible. There were two people walking along a road, who were very downcast as Jesus had been crucified, and then when Jesus rose, he walked alongside them. So that’s where FCN began - Christopher wanted to walk alongside those who needed help.

“So that is what we do, we go in and walk alongside people and hopefully point them in the right direction. The first thing we do is listen to what their problems are - sometimes this makes a huge difference and is all that is needed. Farming is a very lonely occupation and is very busy, so you don’t go off farm. You can go weeks on end without seeing anybody.”

If someone in need rings the helpline, the volunteers on the other end write up a case file and send to the county leads (in Devon, this is Richard). The lead will then ring the person in need and get as much detail as possible before referring them to another volunteer (for example, someone local to them or someone who has had similar experiences) or to another organisation, such as a doctor.

Richard has had a lot of farming experience, and he believes this can help when talking to someone in need. As well as a bad accident and going through the foot-and-mouth outbreak, Richard used to milk cows on his farm but unfortunately had to stop once he discovered he had farmer’s lung.

“I had quite a bad quadbike accident," he explained.

“And soon after we took on the dairy herd, foot and mouth happened. We were locked down with foot and mouth, so we knew what to expect with Covid – we had been through it before.

“There was a case of a dairy farmer up north who had given up milk and just couldn’t cope. When the cows went, life became easier, and he just couldn’t handle it. He didn’t want to speak to anyone local, so I spoke to him, and I had been through exactly the same experience. If you’ve got that empathy then it helps.”

Richard explained that he can see a rise in the number of calls surrounding mental health issues and he believes this is because it is becoming more acceptable for people to talk about how they are feeling and the mental health issues they are facing.

“It is hard for any farmer to talk about any problems they have got,” he added.

“I went to a show for the charity and someone came up to me and said FCN had saved his life. But he did say the hardest thing to do was to ask for help.

“When I went into hospital with my farmer’s lung, and the doctor said ‘if you see a farmer come in, then you know they are on their last legs’.

“I would say to people don’t be afraid, talk to somebody to start with - even if it is your neighbour. We need to look out for our neighbours in these remote areas.

“It is not going to hurt to pick up the phone and give us a ring. We do not judge anybody. Whatever you have done or whatever you are feeling, there is no judgement whatsoever. Just don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

From our February issue of South West Farmer, we will be running a monthly column with the FCN, so keep an eye out if you want to find out more about this wonderful charity. Next month, we’ll hear from Chris Murray from Pennywell Farm in Devon.