Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:35 pm on 13 October 2021.
Thank you. I think that is the most important of your three questions, and it's something that I've always taken a very close and particular interest in since I've been in this portfolio. Because whilst the agricultural sector and farming communities are some of the most close-knit groups I've ever met, you can see that when you're on a farm you sometimes are a bit isolated. Particularly during the pandemic, I think that's certainly been highlighted. So, I've given significant funding to agriculture mental health charities.
You asked at the end around markets, for instance, and one of the things is the funding that we were able to allocate to the DPJ Foundation. I'm sure you're aware of that charity. They looked at how they could train other people to recognise symptoms of mental health issues in places like farmers markets, where perhaps you wouldn't think, if you were a farmer with concerns, that you could be signposted to the most appropriate place. So, that's an area we've worked on. Also, we launched FarmWell during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was like a one-stop shop, where, if you accessed that, you would know where you could then go on to get further assistance.
I meet quite regularly with all the agricultural charities, and they all, I think, every single one of them—there were about half a dozen I met with regularly over the past 18 months—said that during the pandemic the referrals to them had increased. So, it's something I keep a very close eye on, and, if there's anything further I can do to help, I will certainly be happy to do so.