Hawkstone Farmers Choir gives £100,000 mental health boost

The Hawkstone Farmers Choir and Hawkstone Brewery are donating £100,000 to farming and mental health charities following the choir’s Britain’s Got Talent success.

The choir handed over £50,000 at Jeremy Clarkson’s pub, The Farmer’s Dog, on Friday (4 September), with the money divided equally between Mind, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (Rabi), the Farming Community Network (FCN), Shout and the DPJ Foundation.

See also: Hawkstone Farmers Choir celebrates victory in BGT finals

Hawkstone Brewery is matching the sum with a separate £50,000 donation to Shout, extending its partnership with the free, confidential 24-hour mental health text service.

The choir’s contribution represents one-fifth of the £250,000 prize money it received after becoming the first choir to win Britain’s Got Talent in May.

The group began little more than a year ago after farmers were recruited for what was intended to be a one-off Hawkstone recording session at The Farmer’s Dog.

It subsequently developed into a permanent choir of more than 30 farmers and agricultural workers from across the UK, with members speaking publicly about isolation, farming pressures and the impact singing together has had on their wellbeing.

Ted Howard-Jones, a member of the Hawkstone Farmers Choir, said: “We wanted to make sure that the opportunity we were given through Britain’s Got Talent could create something lasting.

“This first £50,000 donation is a massive moment for us, but it’s just the beginning. Our goal is to build the choir into a sustainable organisation that can continue to support farming charities long into the future.”

The remainder of the prize money is being used to establish and develop the choir, with the aim of generating further donations for agricultural charities in future.

Farmers seeking support

Hawkstone has worked with Shout since 2024, establishing a dedicated route through which farmers can access its text-based mental health support.

Between August 2024 and August 2025, 441 farmers used the HAWKSTONE keyword to hold 514 conversations with the service, with 42 returning for further support.

One in eight conversations involved suicidal thoughts, while 1% required emergency intervention because the person was considered at imminent risk.

Victoria Hornby, chief executive of Mental Health Innovations, which manages Shout, said choir members had spoken openly about their own mental health and the pressures facing farmers.

“Farming can be isolating work, and reaching out can be hard,” she said.

“This donation will help us be there for anyone who is struggling, at any time, wherever they are in the UK.”

Wider research has also highlighted the scale of mental health concerns in agriculture. Rabi’s 2021 Big Farming Survey, involving more than 15,000 people, found 36% of respondents were probably or possibly depressed.

Alex Phillimore, head of operations and communications at FCN, said the donation would support its work “walking with” farmers during difficult periods and times of change.

“The Hawkstone Farmers Choir continues to capture the hearts of the nation and to shine a light on the dedication and commitment of our farming community,” he said.