Tir Dewi was originally set up in 2015 to support farmers and their families in west Wales through a bilingual helpline. Now, their service and provision has expanded and offers vital support in various ways to farmers across Wales.

They received a People and Places grant of £306,550 in 2020 to develop their work – to raise awareness of agricultural issues, to provide support to farmers in crisis through early intervention, and to normalise the culture of asking for help.

More recently, Tir Dewi successfully applied for an £8,850 National Lottery Awards for All grant specifically to establish Farmers Clubs which run regular activities. The clubs provide social opportunities for farmers and their families in the community, to reduce isolation and improve their mental health and wellbeing.

We visited one of the Farmers Clubs in Anglesey and spoke to Ceinwen Parry, the clubs’ co-ordinator, to hear more about their work.

Nia Hughes, Funding Officer at The National Lottery Community Fund with Ceinwen Parry from Tir Dewi

Why set up Farmers Clubs?

Many farmers and their family members have been members of Young Farmers’ Clubs (YFC), clubs for young people between the ages of 10 and 28. YFC provides opportunities for young people to meet, socialise and compete together, but most importantly, gives them a reason to leave the farm regularly and be part of a wider community.

After leaving YFC at the age of 28, young people don’t have access to similar clubs and they return to the farm to work long hours in a busy, and often stressful, environment; farming can be a very lonely and unsociable job.

Our idea was therefore to create a club for farmers over 28 and their families so that they had a reason to get out and meet other people from the agricultural community, and most importantly, have a chance to talk. Retired farmers also enjoy coming to the club as it is a good place to keep in touch with people who have the same background and experience as them.

Tell us more about the first Farmers Club.

We set up the first Farmers Club in Anglesey in 2022. The club meets once a month at various locations on the island and around 30-35 people regularly attend, with over 70 attending at least one night, so they are very popular.

We try to organise a range of fun evenings for members – for example, fun activities such as archery or pool and darts night, or farm visits. The club gives the farmers a chance to network and see or hear how other people do things.

Anglesey Farmers Club

We also arrange for people or organisations to come and talk about relevant agricultural topics. Someone from EID Cymru, Farming Connect and a vet have been to speak at the club and members have told us that hearing from them about important information or changes has often lessened the burden, and made them realise that the changes weren’t as frightening as expected. The farmers can ask questions and discuss openly at the club without worrying about it at home.

What are Tir Dewi’s future plans?

Due to the success of the Farmers Club in Anglesey, we were keen to set up new clubs in other areas of Wales. Clubs have now been established in Pen Llŷn and Clwyd, and the Caernarfon and Conwy areas have also shown interest in setting up clubs locally, so it’s a very exciting time as the scheme develops. The ultimate plan is for each club to have two officers – a treasurer and a secretary – who will be responsible for their local club and will be supported by Tir Dewi and the Farmers Club.

We also still attend agricultural shows with stalls to raise awareness of our work, and to meet people and organisations to learn about the latest information in agriculture so we can share it with the farmers.

How do the Farmers Clubs help mental health?

Isolation can be a big issue in agriculture – unless there is a good reason to leave the farm, farmers often stay at home. The Farmers Club gives them a reason to leave the farm; it provides an opportunity to socialise, chat, laugh and have fun, and sometimes to learn.

So many of the traditional places farmers used to meet have disappeared – chapels and churches have closed, local pubs are more scarce, and even the livestock markets changed their way of operating during Covid-19, so farmers are now spending less time there too.

The purpose of the Farmers Clubs is simply to provide a place for farmers to go. Even if only a dozen come to some nights for whatever reason, those people have come out and the club and companionship have helped them with loneliness – and that’s so important.

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Tir Dewi received a National Lottery Awards for All grant of £8,850 to establish Farmers Clubs. The National Lottery’s Awards for All programme has recently changed to help put social connections and community activities at the heart of creating healthier and happier lives across Wales. These changes will provide projects with greater financial stability and longer-term security.

Community groups and charities can now:

• apply for funding between £300 and £20,000 to support their project, an increase from the previous maximum of £10,000.
• get funding for up to two years, rather than one.
• hold only one National Lottery Awards for All grant at a time

For more information about National Lottery Awards for All grants and how to apply, visit https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/national-lottery-awards-for-all-wales