Trading Standards working in Devon have been nationally acclaimed for their groundbreaking project which focuses on farmers’ mental health and strengthens links with rural communities.

The Heart of the Southwest Trading Standards Service (HotSW TS), which covers Devon, Plymouth, Somerset, and Torbay, was awarded the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) Hero Award for best project in London this week.

On behalf of the CTSI, Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw presented the award to Nikki Rattenbury, Rebecca Barker and Samantha Younger for the Mental Health & Wellbeing in Farming Communities’ Project which has been operated through the Trading Standards Farming Partnership (TSFP).

Due to the rural character of the South West, advice, guidance and enforcement on animal health, welfare and disease control is a high priority for Trading Standards.

Over the past two years farmers have been under more pressure than ever before and there has been evidence that this was affecting the mental health of many. The project aims to address this by raising the profile of mental health in rural communities and awareness of the help available. It has so far hosted four webinars with speakers from the Gay Farmer Helpline, the Farming Community Network, Young Farmers and an accredited cognitive behavioural therapist. A fifth webinar is planned for Thursday, November 18 which will include the Samaritans.

And as part of the project, animal health specialists within HotSW TS - who visit farmers in the course of their work - are receiving mental health ’first aid’ training to identify the early signs of mental illness when they visit farmers.

In addition, the project helped trigger the setting up of a Listening Ear Support Service for Devon, offering the wider business community a safe and friendly space to discuss the stresses they faced running a business during the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of partners of the TSFP is expanding, and its profile is being raised through social media. There are also plans for a regular physical presence at events such as the Devon and Somerset County Shows.

Paul Thomas, Head of HotSW TS, said: ’Farming is a major part of Devon’s economy but for many the pandemic made what was already a challenging way of life a lot more difficult.

’According to the Farming Community Network nearly half of all calls made to their helpline between July and October last year were related to mental health. It was apparent that many in the farming industry were struggling but didn’t know how or where to get support.

’Our aims were to bring together rural groups and organisations to highlight the stigma surrounding mental health so those who were struggling knew that they weren’t on their own and how they could access support if they needed it and, to start building and upskilling that necessary network of support.’

Andy Jerrard, livestock market chaplaincy coordinator for the area, said: ’Farmers used to be part of the social fabric of rural communities but because of economics fewer people now work on farms. Many now work on their own and are isolated. When farmers markets closed during lockdown, they lost their main point of social contact and I know many personally who really struggled because of this. Projects like this have been a tremendous help to many.’