.jpg)
The Duchy of Cornwall and Prince William have launched a new Mental Health Strategy for their tenants with a specific focus on farmers and rural communities.
The strategy, developed by the Duchy and Prince William over the past year, is designed to prioritise farmer’s mental health, as well as de-stigmatising it within the agricultural sector where one farmer loses their battle with mental health each week in the UK.
In an ambition to be the leading provider of mental health support to all its tenants, the Duchy of Cornwall will provide mental health care and support via a multi-layered approach, which includes the ability to talk to trained staff via a dedicated wellbeing service, as well as staff and farmer training and hosting social events.
Matthew Morris, Rural Director at The Duchy of Cornwall says:
From working in, what can be an at-times lonely profession, to dealing with uncertainty of weather and prices, there are multiple pressures that farmer’s face that can have the potential to impact their mental wellbeing. The Duchy of Cornwall recognises these individual challenges of the profession and aims to make an active difference to the mental health conversation in rural communities.
To launch the strategy, the Duchy 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.
Following struggles with their own mental wellbeing and seeing the stigma around mental health in the farming industry, the Stables founded the charity which is working to support the mental health of farmers in rural communities throughout the county. The Duchy of Cornwall and We Are Farming Minds are partnering on the strategy for at least three years and will have regular check-ins to see how the partnership can improve.
The Duchy’s new Mental Health Strategy is available now to all tenants across the estate.
The Duchy of Cornwall has announced that Will Bax will take over from Alastair Martin as Secretary and Keeper of the Records at the Duchy of Cornwall when he steps down from the role in Autumn 2024.
Read more
The Duchy of Cornwall has today published it Integrated Annual Report which summarises activity on the Duchy of Cornwall estate for the year ended 31st March 2024.
Read more
The Duchy of Cornwall has revealed its achieved Gold Carbon Literate Organisation status, after over half of its employees have become individually certified as Carbon Literate by The Carbon Literacy Project. The news follows the Duchy sharing its ongoing work with agricultural tenants to bring down the Estate’s emissions in order to achieve net zero by the early 2030s.
Read more