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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?

How Rural Support can help

The first step in seeking help is to call our helpline. The helpline is operated by volunteers who are fully trained. They are all from a rural background and have good awareness of many aspects of rural life.

All calls to the helpline are confidential.

When you call us, we will take some contact details from you. This allows us to have ongoing contact with you for as long as you need our support. We will also gather some information for monitoring purposes but this is never used in a way which would identify individual clients.

Everyone’s circumstances are different. We will take time to listen carefully to your concerns and needs and we will work with you to find the best way ahead.

Depending on your needs, some of the following might help you. In all cases, we will agree actions with you and get your permission before contacting other organisations on your behalf.

  • contact information and/or signposting – if we know of an organisation that can provide specialised support for specific issues, we will help you get in touch. If you wish, and with your permission, we can make initial contact on your behalf.
  • face-to-face meeting – sometimes it can be hard to talk on the phone. If you prefer, we can arrange for one or two of our volunteers to meet with you in your home or another suitable location. This can be particularly helpful for technical or paperwork queries.
  • mediation or intervention – one or more of our volunteers may act as intermediary between you and another party.
  • counselling – we have a number of fully qualified counsellors on our volunteer team. If you feel that you would benefit from counselling, we can arrange for a volunteer to contact you to discuss options.
  • mentoring and ongoing support – we will continue to support you for as long as is beneficial to you. There is no expiry date for our support!
  • financial consultation – we have a partnership with FGS McClure Watters financial advisory firm. If appropriate, we can arrange a one-hour free consultation with a representative of FGS McClure Watters. Please note that this service must be arranged through Rural Support and not directly with the company.