'Life Beyond' celebrates two years of service

This support is tailored according to each individual family’s needs, understanding the implications a death has both for the family and the farm business.

Life Beyond celebrates two years in existence this year, being launched in August 2021. Over the past two years the need, purpose and value of the service has become increasingly evident throughout the farming community and they have just reached the milestone of helping 100 clients deal with their loss.

Victor Chestnutt, past UFU president, chose Life Beyond as his charity during his time as president.

Commenting on his decision to raise funds for Life beyond he says: “I am pleased to have played a part in getting Life Beyond going and will continue to help keep it moving forward over the coming years. I chose to fundraise for Life Beyond during my term as President of UFU through our JustGiving page, and I will continue to raise money to fund these services as it is something I feel very passionate about and believe it is a vital and important service here in Northern Ireland. I want to thank each and every organisation, business and individual who donated to the programme. Every penny makes a difference, and we are so grateful for the support given.”

Life Beyond provides a unique combination of support, specifically tailored to what each family needs, with an all-in approach that incorporates various aspects of the farming family and the farming enterprise that has been affected by the loss. It provides farm business, financial and technical mentoring support, alongside emotional health, and bereavement counselling including trauma support where needed. It also works with farmers and their families where there is a terminal diagnosis within the family, in order to help them plan and to give them space to spend with their loved ones.

Life Beyond is driven by a robust Steering made up of Rural Support and Embrace FARM staff together with key figures from the industry who are passionate about driving the service forward.

ABP Managing Director, George Mullan is the Life Beyond founding Chairman of the Steering Group, he comments on the last two years: “I am delighted to be Chairman for the Steering Group of this fantastic service that has been providing support to farmers and farming families who experience bereavement over the past two years. It is something that many families go through and can be made worse because of complications relating to the farm business and sometimes problems relating to succession.

"The programme takes people through that experience both on the practical and business side as well as the emotional side and provide the support they need, when they need it and for whatever length of time, they need it. This can only strengthen the health and wellbeing of the farm family and alongside that, help the farm business to continue”.

Speaking on the experience and how the programme has helped them, a former Life Beyond Client comments: “The Life Beyond Programme was recommended to me by a friend of the family after the sudden death of our son as a result of an accident. After the loss of our son it was about learning to live without him and doing everything now, even the small things, without him here. The support we received was second to none and we were surprised at how quickly someone came out to visit us. It was only a matter of days from our first phone call to Rural Support that someone was out sitting in front of us. I’ve walked past the Rural Support stand many times at agricultural shows and events and wasn’t aware of the full extent of the services offered but also never thought that me or my family would ever need it. It’s comforting to know that if we ever need support again in the future that it’s only a phone call away.”(former Life Beyond client)

It is clear to see the support this service has from many within the industry and the need for it continuing to grow.

Commenting on the future of the service, Gillian Reid, Head of Farm Support, Rural Support says: “We are so privileged to be able to offer this bespoke service to support farm families through their grief and beyond. Thanks to very kind and generous donations we are able to offer help at the time of need and in the comfort of their own home. Our team of mentors and counsellors draw on whatever skills are needed to help because they care, and having this free, impartial and confidential support makes such a difference. Referrals are growing in pace as the programme becomes more widely known and the impact tested. To meet this increased demand we will need the continued financial support from within the sector, we don’t ever want our farmers to be placed on waiting lists.”

Rural Support would encourage anyone who is interested in supporting and or donating to the programme, to contact Melissa at Rural Support, [email protected].

Do you think you could benefit from the services of Life Beyond?

If you or someone you know would benefit from the Life beyond Programme or from speaking to a Rural Support team member, please ring the support line which is confidential and is available 9am-9pm, Monday to Friday (voicemail and options available at all other times). The freephone number is 0800 138 1678.