Case Study from Embrace FARM (Ireland) and Rural Support (Northern Ireland): Bereavement Support for the Farming Community

What was the focus of the collaboration? 

Embrace FARM provides emotional and practical support to those affected by serious injury and sudden death within farm families across Ireland. Our collaboration with Rural Support began in 2021 when members of the Rural Support team joined our operational group in helping the organisation establish its tailored one-to-one support services to farm families in southern Ireland. With an extensive history of providing farm business mentoring and other supports to farm families across Northern Ireland for many years, the experience Rural Support provided to Embrace FARM was pivotal in the success of establishing Embrace FARM’s Encircle programme. Through their guidance, issues with operations, governance, and the overall strategic direction for the setup and development of the programme was hugely beneficial to both organisations. 

Rural Support is the farm support charity for Northern Ireland, providing a range of programmes and services for farmers and farm family members in support of their farm business and personal wellbeing, all accessible via a confidential Support Line. Rural Support strives to be proactive in supporting farming families by providing high quality programmes and services which offer a holistic and tailored approach to complex and diverse issues affecting farming families and their businesses.  

In 2021, Rural Support launched their bereavement support programme Life Beyond for the farming community in Northern Ireland based on learning from the model established and delivered by Embrace FARM in Ireland. Life Beyond is a programme of support for farming families in Northern Ireland who have experienced loss through farm accident, suicide, unexpected or expected death. The support is tailored to individual/family need and can include emotional counselling, business mentoring, a combination of both, and online resources available on Rural Support’s Farm Support Hub. An annual remembrance event allows farm families to come together with the wider farming community to mark the contributions of their loved ones.  

How did the collaboration come about? 

The Board of Trustees, staff, and wider team at Rural Support were aware of the need to expand our services to include bereavement support for those in the farming community dealing with recent or more historical loss which was impacting on their personal and business wellbeing. Rural Support’s Board Trustee Victor Chestnutt was instrumental in the establishment of the Life Beyond programme by nominating the initiative for financial support as part of his role as President of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (2020-2022). Victor and Rural Support were aware of and impressed with the impact of Embrace FARM’s support for farming families coping with bereavement and wanted to mirror this support in Northern Ireland. 

There was a familiar relationship with both organisations prior to formal working relationship being established in 2021. In 2019, both Rural Support and Embrace FARM joined forces with Yellow Wellies: Farm Safety Foundation to deliver a trilogy of conferences about Farmer Resilience. Each organisation held a meeting in their own jurisdiction to the audience of farmers, agri-industry professionals, governmental agencies, and political figures. From this collaboration, a connection was formed which led to the beginning of the programme work in 2021 for Rural Support and Embrace FARM.  

What have you done together? 

For Rural Support’s Life Beyond programme, a Memorandum of Understanding was agreed between Rural Support and Embrace Farm to outline the key components of the collaborative relationship between both organisations for the Life Beyond programme. A Steering Committee was established which includes Embrace Farm and other stakeholders as members who are central to its success. 

Through the working relationship set up for Rural Support’s Life Beyond programme, it became apparent that similar processes would be applicable to Embrace FARM’s Encircle programme. The Memorandum of Understanding served both organisations developmental needs and each organisation continues to lean on the other as they grow and develop in collaboration with the farm families they support in each jurisdiction.  

What has been successful about your collaboration? What impacts have you been able to see or measure? 

Since 2021, Rural Support’s Life Beyond programme has provided support to 84 families. The impact of this support has been measured through the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale – the average wellbeing score before support was 37 and the average score after support was 47. A population average score is 51.  

Personal testimonials highlight the impact for individuals who have suffered a loss, “The Life Beyond Programme was recommended to me by a friend of the family after the sudden death of our son as a result of an accident. After the loss of our son, it was about learning to live without him and doing everything now, even the small things, without him here. The support we received was second to none and we were surprised at how quickly someone came out to visit us. It was only a matter of days from our first phone call to Rural Support that someone was out sitting in front of us.  I’ve walked past the Rural Support stand many times at agricultural shows and events and wasn’t aware of the full extent of the services offered but also never thought that me or my family would ever need it. It’s comforting to know that if we ever need support again in the future that it’s only a phone call away.” 

From the launch of Embrace FARM’s Encircle programme in April 2022, the organisation has supported 217 farm families in Ireland affected by serious injury or sudden death through the programme. The impact of this support has been measured through surveyed feedback from those who have participated in the programme. Personal testimony and monitoring the emotional engagement of the participants are part of this feedback process. Please see short testimonial below, and appendix 1 attached.  

“Meeting people with the same experience, spending time as a family together and having conversations with people who understand. Their support is invaluable”. 

“I felt I had the weight lifted off my shoulders. It was a relief to talk to someone who understood”. 

“I was allowed to talk freely. I felt that I was listened to. Reassured by the person who answered the call”. 

What ran smoothly? 

Life Beyond is now a recognised bereavement support programme for the farming community in Northern Ireland. Farm families have benefited from the services it offers, and it is available for others who will face their own unique journey of bereavement in the future.  

The Life Beyond Steering Committee is a central part of the success of the programme, ensuring that partners are directly involved in its development. 

The relationship and openness from Rural Support to help Embrace FARM establish the Encircle programme was a smooth and easy process. A great understanding of the type of people each programme supported really helped in the early days of the setup, and now with the continuation of both programmes. 

What didn’t go so well? What did you learn from these difficulties? 

Both organisations were limited to the supports they could develop for both the Life Beyond programme in Northern Ireland, and the Encircle programme in Ireland due to funding and staffing constraints. What we learned from this was the importance of having established working groups that could help bridge the gap in these areas initially through the generous time given by the people participating, in many instances voluntarily. However, for the longer-term sustainability of both Life Beyond and Encircle programmes, more secured resources are required.  

What barriers, challenges, or other points of learning did you identify? 

Funding is an ongoing challenge for Rural Support’s Life Beyond programme as it is dependent on voluntary donations. In 2023, Steering Committee member ABP Foods sponsored a shed for a raffle at the Balmoral Show. In 2024, the Steering Committee organised a series of auctions at the agricultural marts across Northern Ireland. These two high-profile fundraising initiatives have provided a level of financial security to the programme and raised awareness of the support available, but longer-term sustainability would be preferable. 

The greatest barrier is very like that which Rural Support is experiencing with the continuation of the Life Beyond programme in Northern Ireland. Funding security that could be offered on a multi-annual basis for both Life Beyond and the Encircle programme would mean more energy could be directed into developing supports based on the needs of the farm families they help.  

What opportunities for future collaboration did you identify? Are you working on these and, if yes, please outline. If no, please explain why. 

The next stage of Rural Support’s Life Beyond programme will include additional support for farm families experiencing bereavement and loss in the form of peer-to-peer group support and residentials. This is also based on the learning from the services provided by Embrace FARM. 

For Embrace FARM’s Encircle Programme, the next stage would be to further develop the practical support services for farm families affected by serious injury and sudden death around succession planning and farm relief services. We will lean into our relationship on the development of this from 2025, as Rural Support offer comprehensive practical farm business support to farm families in Northern Ireland.