Funding needed for famers’ health guide

Funding is desperately needed for a booklet which could save farmers’ lives.
 
The Fit For Farming manual, a health guide aimed at farmers, has been updated and re-launched for 2013 but is only available in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.
 
The second edition of the booklet produced by Yorkshire Rural Support Network “flew off the tables” at the Great Yorkshire Show this week, and is distributed at auction marts around the region alongside health checks for farmers.
 
The checks, which involve simple tests such as cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes, have already saved lives in Yorkshire.

However, due to lack of funding the Network cannot release the booklet and scheme nationwide.
 
The booklet, in the style of a Haynes car manual, features elements such as avoiding joint problems, weight management, signs of cancer and, for the first time, mental health advice.
 
It was sponsored by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Livestock Auctioneers’ Association and the Men’s Health Forum and the illustrations were done by cartoonist Henry Brewis.
 
“We would love to see the booklet rolled out across the UK and we’re looking for more sponsorship,” said Kate Dale, Yorkshire Rural Support Network co-ordinator, speaking at the Great Yorkshire Show.
 
“They have the potential to save lives all over the UK,” she added.

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Understanding rural mental health problems