At last, I have had a holiday, which is not something I’m very good at to be honest but it was great to get away from base camp for a week and with the Farmstrong tour well underway I put one of the key messages into action, get away from the farm for regular breaks!

One of the highlights of being away was returning home to find the farm having been run very well. Our students Murray (17) and Ed (20) have flourished in recent months with added responsibility, and in the past week they have found a new level, managing people, planning the working week and liaising with external contractors, vets and haulage and auction companies.

We some times focus to much on the lack of talent entering our industry buy they are out there and we are very fortunate in having some crackers with more coming from home and abroad for the spring rush.

I went to France with Fiona and our youngest children, Archie aged 15 and Lexie aged 17, despite knee injuries to the male component of the family a good time has been had by all.

Archies medial ligament damage was as a result of a fairly unspectacular crash despite what he’s telling his cousins, and mine is a long standing grumble which is likely linked to lack of respect for my body in my youth plus a fair bit of rugby and sheep work.

Whilst I gradually deteriorated and managed to navigate my own way off the slopes junior was whisked away in what is affectionately known as the blood waggon. This one wasn’t motorised , it was basically a sledge with a medic at either end who seemed to be able to ski remarkably fast with a passenger onboard, the sight of Fiona, aka ‘mother hen’ in hot pursuit did make Lexie and I smile.

In fact, the whole process was remarkably efficient, as long as you produced the plastic at the right times progress was made and they made it back to the hotel before us, we did however stop for some après ski.

Whilst away the Farmstrong Scotland tour has, as reported in this high quality publication, been in full swing with Marc Gascgoine, a kiwi dairy farmer telling farmers and crofters across the nation about his challenges with mental health and how tapping into Farmstrong New Zealand has made a huge difference to his own wellbeing.

We are delighted that Marc was able to come over for a few weeks and being able to share the stage with Carol and the RSABI team so that we can highlight the awesome work they do was key to us. Working closely with other organisations is something that has worked very well in New Zealand, and we are committed to making that happen in Scotland.

My initial involvement in Farmstrong stemmed from the Doug Avery tour, I wouldn’t go as far as to say I stalked Doug (he might, but we have become good friends since). I started following him on social media because I identified with what he was saying, one thing lead to another and he came across to speak to us about resilience.

I read his book and should read it again as I certainly haven’t put enough of what he taught us on that tour into practise.

Doug sowed the seed for Farmstrong Scotland and as with growing anything you need to make sure the environment is right, giving it every opportunity to flourish and develop.

I’m lucky in that I chair the small Farmstrong Scotland steering group which has over seen things so far and making the tour happen has been high on our agenda for some time.

It’s part of a process we are going through, following the blueprint laid out by New Zealand which has listening to those on the ground as a top priority.

Our group has a broad and varied skill set which collectively works, we learn from each other and are all capable of flying at the front of the V in Doug Avery speak.

We also have Gerard Vaughn from New Zealand, who is our guru in terms of Farmstrong and Wellbeing and is also our official link to Movember who have agreed to match fund a significant sum which will enable us to get the project off the ground in the early years.

Moving forwards, we are now actively recruiting someone to take on admin and events and this post will be followed by a project manager post April.

We’re looking to expand our steering committee in the spring whilst hosting various focus sessions which will guide us further as to what’s required from a Scottish perspective.

Like New Zealand we are building a programme of events plus a website/social media/press presence which will give farmers and crofters tools with which to improve their own wellbeing.

When I think of myself and the five ways to Wellbeing,

1. Connect,

2. Give,

3. Take Notice,

4. Keep Learning,

5. Be Active

I have a little work to do, I’m good in some areas, possibly give too much at times and the detriment to myself, I connect with people but should make more effort in person rather than on a screen. I certainly don’t stop and take notice of the world around me, and I need to be more active as many of us do.

It would be remiss of me not to mention organisations who have helped get Farmstrong to this stage, RHASS have a 200 year history of kick starting good ideas and they have been instrumental again this time, NFU Mutual Charitable Trust have sponsored the tour along with many others and SRUC have helped with our initial survey of farmers and crofters.

One of the best bits about the evolution of Farmstrong Scotland is that everyone – farmers, crofters and the wider industry – is pulling together in a positive way, doing their bit in whatever way they can, our steering group is driven by this energy which spurs us on to make it happen.

To achieve our goals, we will need volunteers and ambassadors to help deliver the initiative, please get involved folks it’s not often that we have an opportunity like this to have a massive impact on the way we live our lives, the more people that engage at any level in our farming and crofting communities the better.