THE DUKE OF CORNWALL – PRINCE WILLIAM – TO BECOME PATRON OF WE ARE FARMING MINDS AT NEXT GENERATION DUCHY EVENT
Pensford, Bristol
Wednesday 26th March 2025
The Duke of Cornwall will join an inaugural event for 60 of the Duchy of Cornwall’s next generation of farming tenants, aimed at inspiring them as they look ahead to their future as young farmers.
The day is designed to engage the future faces of Duchy farming, providing information, inspiration, and giving them the opportunity to hear from other young farmers in the industry. It will include workshops on business resilience and talks on the importance of mental health, and attendees will be joined by well-known farmer, Kaleb Cooper, and farming consultant, Charlie Ireland.
The event highlights the Duke’s commitment to supporting young farmers and his continued passion for promoting good mental health across the farming community – acknowledging that farming can, at times, be a lonely profession in which individuals are forced to contend with multiple external pressures and considerable uncertainty. At the event, His Royal Highness will be announced as the new Patron of We Are Farming Minds, a Duchy supported Herefordshire-based charity, established to break the stigma surrounding mental health in the farming community. The charity provides counselling, 24/7 support line, training, events, information, advice and support designed to raise awareness of the importance of mental health. It was founded by Duchy tenants, Sam and Emily Stables, following struggles with their experience of mental health.
The new patronage builds on the Duchy of Cornwall’s rural mental health strategy, launched in 2023, which aims to make the Duchy the leading provider of mental health support to all its tenants. The strategy is designed to prioritise farmers’ mental health, and de-stigmatise the issue within the agricultural sector. The strategy also includes the provision of mental health care and support, such as access to a dedicated wellbeing service. All Duchy farming tenants have unlimited access to the support of We Are Farming Minds.
Upon arrival, the Duke will meet some of the speakers participating in the event, before taking part in a fireside chat with the founder of We Are Farming Minds, Sam Stables, and Sue Padfield, the Duchy’s Farming Family Ambassador. The conversation will be focused on the importance of taking care of our mental health and the unique context of mental wellbeing within the farming community.
Finally, His Royal Highness will have the opportunity to join an informal teambuilding exercise and spend time with some of the young farmers attending the event.
