Perthshire farmer Alix Ritchie has been appointed programme director of wellbeing initiative Farmstrong Scotland.
The Farmstrong movement is the brainchild of New Zealand programme director, Gerard Vaughan, whose ethos of helping farmers and crofters to “live well, to farm well” has struck a chord with rural communities the length and breadth of the country.
The decision to launch in Scotland, follows on from a visit by New Zealand farmer Doug Avery, who drew huge audiences when he toured Scotland back in 2018 to talk about his own challenges with mental health and wellbeing.
Alix Ritchie, is mother of two, and farms 100-head of suckler cows and 550 ewes at Montalt Farm, Dunning, with her husband John and father-in-law George.
Her current role is Health and Education Manager for Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).
She says one of her first objectives will be to make Farmstrong Scotland a household name among the farming fraternity.
“Although I will be sorry to leave the role I’ve loved with QMS, it feels very much the right decision, especially as I’ve followed the Farmstrong movement in Scotland as a supporter since the very beginning.
“I think personal resilience and wellbeing is something we neglect as an industry as we don’t place enough value on ourselves. We spend so much time servicing and maintaining our machinery, checking the health and welfare of our animals and thinking about the wellbeing of our business but often neglect our greatest asset – ourselves.
“Farmstrong Scotland will enable the rural community to learn how to improve their own wellbeing which – in turn – will help them to farm and croft better. Learning how to build up resilience for when times are tough is a key element of Farmstrong Scotland and making sure farmers and crofters have some coping strategies in their wellbeing account to draw on.”
Alix will take up the role of Programme Director for Farmstrong Scotland on November 20th, 2023.
