Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 56077 on Farmer: Mental Health, what (a) funding and (b) support his Department is providing directly to farming welfare charities to enhance mental health outreach and services in rural and agricultural communities.

Delivery of mental health interventions sits with the Department for Health and Social Care, who are investing in mental health to ensure it receives the same attention as physical health. This includes the hiring of 8,500 new mental health support workers, which will reduce delays and provide faster treatment closer to people’s homes – including in rural communities.

Defra is supporting farming welfare charities through funding the Farmer Welfare Grant. This aids organisations to deliver projects which will support mental health and build resilience in local farming communities. One recipient, the Farming Community Network, is using the funding to expand their FarmWell platform. This online resource provides business and personal resilience advice on topics including mental health, isolation, depression and suicide.  

Currently, grant recipients operate in Cumbria, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and online via the FCN’s FarmWell platform.

The RPA also runs a Welfare Forum, which brings together England’s largest farming and welfare organisations that provide mental health support to discuss issues farmers are facing.