JUST A FARMER
Caring For The Community
Capacity building - LEP23 - 014_LLC01_5
The issue
In rural communities, 1 in 5 people are affected by mental health issues. As a community its important we look out for one another. After a dry summer, and even dryer autumn, many people in our community were facing even more mental challenges, particularly our farmers who in the dry conditions were facing significant stock losses, financial strains and heavier than normal workloads. Our Landcare group understands that before we can care for the land, we must take care of our ourselves and mental health is a significant part of that.
The solution
The Boorowa Community Landcare Group, decided to bring a screening of the film “Just A Farmer” to our town. This Aussie made movie delves deep into mental health and suicide associated with Aussie farming and rural communities. The movie captured the audience, with a silent and fully engaged room.
At the conclusion of the movie, we had a panel discussion. The discussion was led by Leila McDougall (Writer, producer, executive producer and lead actor). Alongside Leila we had John Harper (Shearer, farmer and mental health advocate) and Loraine Anderson (Clinical Psychologist). The panel gave the audience an opportunity to create discussion around the film, mental health and the ever-growing divide between city and country. Everyone was very engaged with the discussion, with it carrying on for an extended period of time, well past the 45 minutes allocated.
The event attracted many people from our community, many who were not part of our normal Landcare community, which was great to have them on board and learn a bit more about our Landcare ground and remind them our priority is to serve the needs of our community.
The impact
The movie did exactly as it was meant to, creating discussions around mental health and helping people to talk about it, generating deep and meaningful conversations. It also served as a reminder that we are a small caring community, and we should lean on one another. It created discussions around town. Those that attend only has positive things to share and it encouraged those who couldn’t attend to still rent the movie and watch at home. I had positive feedback and discussions which continued for months after the event.