10th July 2017
Frontier Agriculture’s Responsible Choice project team has recently presented the money raised for ‘Farming Help’ charities during this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (#MHAW17).
The cheque for £10,000, which will be split evenly between four Farming Help charities, was presented in June at Frontier’s offices in Lincoln.
How was £10,000 raised?
Frontier colleagues raised £4,602.30 of the cash through fundraising events organised by The Responsible Choice regional coordinators.
The company also committed to donate a penny for every tonne of grain traded during the week. Frontier traded 98,933 tonnes of grain during that week adding another £989 to the total raised.
The final total donated, however, was a huge £10,000!
Sharon Kennett, chair of The Responsible Choice steering group explained: “We knew our colleagues would support The Responsible Choice’s involvement in Mental Health Awareness Week, but their level of commitment was fantastic. They got involved in so many ways and raised so much more than we could ever have hoped for. Frontier therefore made the decision to match their efforts, taking our total donation to £10,000.”
Vicki Beers, fundraising & supporter relationships manager at The Farming Community Network (FCN) and speaking on behalf of Farming Help at the presentation said: “Thank you to Frontier for the warm welcome today and the amazing donation! It was great to meet some of the people who helped raise the money. The charities that make up Farming Help do great work but rely on the generosity of others in the farming community to do so. We will all put this money to very good use. For example, it costs approximately £330 a day just to run the FCN helpline, a lifeline to people in crisis.”
Farming Help is an ‘umbrella’ charity comprising four separate agricultural charities: Addington Fund, FCN, and the R.A.B.I (Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution) and R.S.A.B.I (formerly known as the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution). Among the other ways the money could be used to benefit the farming community are:
- £140 will pay to install a telephone for one year so a vulnerable elderly person can call for help in a crisis.
- £200 - £600 will pay for a week’s respite care at a residential home.
- £1,800 will pay for a mobility scooter to help someone retain their independence and enjoy a new lease of life.
- £3,700 will pay for a stair-lift to enable those with physical disabilities to remain in their own homes and close to family and friends.
Sharon concluded: “We’re delighted to make this donation. It’s great to hear it’s going to be spent helping people in need in some very practical ways.”
