This year has been a challenging year for us all, and in particular for the farming sector which experiences vast pressure, isolation and demand on a daily basis. Farmers face many unique and complex stressors and 2020 has delivered a series of unexpected challenges including the weather, policy uncertainty, Brexit and increased financial pressures. All of which can add to the anxiety COVID-19 has created.
Dunbia are proud of the strong relationships built over the years with the livestock sector, communicating daily with beef and lamb suppliers through their Agriculture and Procurement teams. The company places a strong emphasis on the ongoing learning and development of its employees. As part of this programme, Dunbia recently enlisted the support of the Farm Safety Foundation, Yellow Wellies, to help highlight the importance of mental wellbeing, recognise the signs of poor mental health and strengthen employee’s confidence in responding sensitively to a situation where someone’s mental health may be at risk in agriculture.
Yellow Wellies is an independent charity, helping farmers challenge the behaviours and attitudes towards farm safety and reduce the number of life-changing and life ending injuries among farmers. This week, the foundation successfully delivered three engaging virtual training sessions to over fifty Dunbia Agriculture and Procurement team members across the country.
Sarah Haire, Head of Agriculture at Dunbia, said:
“We are delighted to work with Yellow Wellies, delivering Mental Health Awareness training for the Dunbia Agriculture and Procurement Teams. Our team members have a close working relationship with our farmer suppliers and understand the pressures being faced across our industry. This training provides us with the skills to make it a little bit easier to talk about this difficult subject.”
Stephanie Berkeley, Manager of the Farm Safety Foundation added:
“Throughout this pandemic, farmers have been recognised as key workers, essential for ensuring we have food on our plates and it is up to each and every one of us in the industry to offer support. The best way for us to do this is by educating ourselves about mental health, the signs and symptoms of someone who may be struggling with their mental health right now and of course, be able to confidently refer them to those organisations that can help them through this. I am delighted that we can help the team at Dunbia on their journey to preserve and protect the mental wellbeing of their staff and of course of their key farming suppliers.”
In recognition of the important work they do a donation of £750 was made to the foundation. Dunbia would like to thank Yellow Wellies for taking the time to provide such insightful training and their commitment to the industry.
