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Case Studies

The case studies show how Rural Support can help individuals or families who are experiencing difficulties.
(Details have been changed to protect confidentiality.)

  • John

    John is 40 and is married with two young children. He works as a self-employed joiner and also manages a small farm. He invested a lot on modernising the farm and had hire purchase agreements for machinery as well as bank loans. Due to the...

    What did Rural Support do?

  • Tom and Helen

    Tom and Helen are in their late sixties.  Helen called Rural Support for help as Tom had become less able to look after the farm.  The couple were under a lot of stress, the paperwork has fallen behind and a DARD inspection had highlighte...

    What did Rural Support do?

  • Andrew

    Andrew is 50 and lives on a farm with his elderly mother. His mother has had several strokes the last of which has rendered her incapable of looking after herself. She needs to be cared for on a full-time basis and Andrew is finding it very...

    What did Rural Support do?

Background

Rural Support was formed as a charity in 2002. At that time, the Foot and Mouth epidemic was having a severe impact on farmers and on the rural community as a whole. There was evidence of distress within the rural community and the need for a support service was identified.

The organisation provides this support through a helpline which offers a listening and signposting service for farmers and rural families. Callers to the helpline are from of all ages and backgrounds and come from every part of Northern Ireland.

The types of issues that we address include emotional distress, suicide risk, financial problems, inheritance issues, physical and mental health, farming paperwork and bureaucracy.