Imagine If Partnership bring Farming Health Hub under their umbrella and Launch Farming Report

At the end of 2022 Imagine If Partnership took over the running of the Farming Health Hub (FHH) from today, alongside the launch of the University of Exeter’s Farming report: Ageing Farmers Health and Access to Healthcare in the Wake of Digital Service Provision we are also relaunching the Farming Health Hub which now sits under the umbrella of Imagine If Partnership Ltd.

The report, a partnership collaboration between the University of Exeter and the FHH was written and delivered in partnership with the University of Exeter’s Inclusivity Project and funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and it highlights that future farming health services - whether in-person, hybrid or fully digital - need to be inclusive by design to effectively reach aging rural populations such as farmers. It goes on to state that older farmers and more well-established farming families need to be empowered to use services and that this can be achieved by capability development to foster awareness about health and illness and to build digital skills, providing work relief to free up farmers’ time, facilitating peer support, and promoting inclusion in decisions about health and the design and delivery of support services.

Lucy Szaboova of the University of Exeter said:

“The health and wellbeing of aging farmers in particular is being tested by modern challenges such as climate change, policy and regulatory changes. To provide targeted and timely support to the farming community, we need to understand what prevents them from engaging with existing health support, and to identify opportunities and good practices that can inform the design of place- and community-based services.”

Under the management of Imagine If the FHH will build upon the recommendations within the report and work with organisations such as Mole Valley Farmers, Public Health and health partners, employers, and rural communities to provide place-based advice, support, and guidance to farming communities in local venues such as livestock markets and pop- up venues rather than farmers and their families having to visit more formal environments. The change in management of the project will also bring a community focus to the provision and will see Imagine If further develop the aims and ambitions of the network with their own ethos in co-production within communities offering provision, resources, activity and skill-building opportunities to marginalised communities that are most in need.

“Kevin Feaviour Imagine If’s Director said:

“Initiatives like this that provide valuable funding and expertise from the University of Exeter bring key benefits to our local community - they enable us to bring to life and better understand the needs of our farming community, a taste of working and living within the industry and insight into the lives of people that have worked within it for so many years. We are also incredibly grateful to Mole Valley Farmers for all their support.”

Our network of Cornish projects is growing and the way we deliver our services aligns well with the need in the farming community to see more health support and provision happen across Cornwall and not just in the urban centres such as Truro. As an organisation, we also work alongside many key partners in the County to make sure our provision is well used, well connected and can maximise our reach and thus our positive impact on communities across the whole County.

Watch this space in the coming weeks to find out more about the FHH and the services, provision and offer which will be opening up to the Cornish Farming community in the coming days and during the year ahead.

Find the University of Exeter Farming Report at https://www.imagineif.net/_files/ugd/a69470_2401555c30fa4b91b400124c30d065a0.pdf

For more information about communications and media of The Farming Health Hub or if you need further images or quotes please contact Ellen Moule at ellen.moule@imagineif.net and for more info about the Hub itself contact Nikki Kelly at nikki.kelly@imagineif.net.