Vegans Raise £6,000 For Farming Mental Health Charity

Campaign group Vegans Support the Farmers has raised £6,000 for The DPJ Foundation, a Welsh mental health charity that supports those working in the agricultural sector.

Vegans Support the Farmers raised the money through sponsorships for four half marathons, completed in 2024, and donations from those attending vegan markets and festivals such as VegFest London, Vegan Campout, and the Welsh Vegan Festival.

Kerri, Sarah, and Tom of Vegans Support the Farmers ran last year’s Great Welsh Half Marathon, Edinburgh Half Marathon, Newcastle Way Half Marathon, and the North Yorkshire Half Marathon. Vegans Support the Farmers aims to create allyship between vegans and farm workers by backing farmer-led demands for a sustainable food system.

“The events were hard work and the running was exhausting, but knowing that every pound raised would go to supporting our hard-working farmers kept us motivated,” said Sarah. “We are devastated with the state of mental health within the farming community and are desperate for meaningful improvements to happen.”

The farming industry has a notably high suicide rate, and the Farm Safety Foundation reports that around 95 percent of young farmers believe poor mental health is the biggest hidden problem within the industry. Mental health charity The DPJ Foundation was set up by Emma Picton-Jones in memory of her husband, Daniel, an agricultural contractor whose mental health difficulties remained undiagnosed until he took his own life.

The DPJ Foundation offers a range of mental health services, including fully-funded counselling and therapy, 24/7 helplines, and resources for suicide bereavement.

The at-risk agricultural sector and climate

Photo shows the vegan runners at the North Yorkshire Half Marathon — Vegans Support the Farmers Vegans Support the Farmers raised a total of £6,000 from running half marathons and fundraising at vegan festivals

Over 80 percent of farmers are worried about the impact of climate change on the sector. Around 87 percent have experienced reduced productivity, 84 percent have suffered a fall in productivity, while over 75 percent reported a reduction in overall income. Just two percent of farmers have not experienced extreme weather in one form or another.

Farmers have called for greater support from the government to help the industry adapt to the worsening climate crisis. A significant portion of farming subsidies currently goes towards animal farming, which is a leading cause of the climate crisis, whereas creating new green farming schemes could help to promote both industry resilience and sustainability.