Harry's story

As a young famer, Harry found that a simple chat with mates about how you really feel can make a huge difference.

“I’m a shepherd – responsible for around 800 sheep. I let them out to pasture, clean them, shear them. There are some that might be ready to go to market so we sort them off. I separate the males and females by markings, and when they come off their mothers, wean the lambs. It’s quite a busy role.

“My family has a dairy farm; I grew up visiting with my family. I grew up in a village and my father and I worked at Chatsworth house, in the gardens. I went on to study countryside management course and farming was part of the course. I really enjoyed it. I went on Asken Bryan and ended up leaving with an honours degree – it was quite a difficult time for me actually. I left to go and work on a hill farm in the Lake district for two years after my degree.

“Mental health is such an important topic. Personally, I’m a huge advocate for talking. With friends, when I was in Cumbria, we did talk about mental health together. It helped to know there were other people in the same boat. Talking does help - you might think you’re the only person thinking or feeling something, but that’s often not the case.

“The first time I told a friend I was struggling, their face almost lit up! Which was a bit odd, but it was because he knew he wasn’t the only one feeling that way. I’ve been able to support friends through similar experiences too."

“When I moved to Cumbria, I was on my own. Speaking to mates was good for me. There’s usually a moment when you can have the deeper conversations. Being in the car was a great time actually – just you and one other in the car. For me, when I was out with a colleague and wasn’t feeling it, he asked if I was alright and I replied by saying, ‘well no, not really.’

“You don’t have to tell the world. Sometimes someone will approach you – you know that someone cares. Having a job and responsibility has really helped. I feel like I have a purpose. I’m in a better place. You get the odd day, as everyone does. I’m a lot better in general.

“Being from a rural community, it can be quite lonely – working alone often. You’re often out in the elements for long periods of time and if the weather isn’t good, then that can affect you. Young farmers really helped, it was great to be part of that group - I was an NFU ambassador.

“There are lots of parts of the rural lifestyle that I think contribute to really positive wellbeing too. Being from a smaller community, we’d always go and help on friends’ farms - I had a very strong group of friends from the Young Farmers. We got together from all over and meet new people and make new connections. Signing up for things like that really helped with my own wellbeing – getting out of my comfort zone was beneficial for me.

“From talking to friends at the club, I knew that winter was a particularly hard time because there isn’t much to do. People get bored. So I’d organise a weekly event for young farmers to come to; there was always trips or something to look forward to.

“My advice to anyone else struggling with their mental health would be to find someone you trust to talk to. You don’t have to come out and say it all straight away. It can be a little bit – whatever you’re comfortable with. One step at a time. It will take a little bit of weight off.”