The 23rd February is National Helpline Awareness Day. Helplines can be a lifeline, and we will always be here for those facing a moment of crisis. But we would encourage those seeking support to get in touch before problems become overwhelming.
Our volunteers provide a listening ear for all kinds of issues, however big or small you feel they may be.
Most of us have had to call a helpline.
It may be as a result of our broadband crashing, because our waste bins haven’t been emptied, or to report a pothole.
It may be to order something, to make an appointment, or share something that is troubling us.
Few of us contact a helpline just to have a chat. But why not?
The majority of calls we receive at FCN are made as a result of significant stress factors. Financial difficulties, family relationship problems, health issues…..the list goes on. Often a combination of life events has left someone feeling overwhelmed, anxious, unclear of how to move forwards, unable to see the light.
If we wait until the last minute, delay the call to action, allow problems to take hold and morph into something more serious, we miss the opportunity to keep the stress and worries to a manageable level and can find ourselves heading into crisis territory.
Of course, at FCN we will always be here for people in this situation. We will help you to navigate a path through whatever you are experiencing and stay by your side for as long as it takes.
But our helpline can do more. So much more.
Around fifty of FCN’s four hundred volunteers form the team who respond to helpline calls. They have a wealth of life and farming experience; they understand; they can relate, talk your language and never judge. It goes without saying that they treat every call in strict confidence.
This life experience is not just valuable when the situation has become bleak. They have often trod a similar path and can offer valuable insight, support and encouragement across a whole range of issues, helping you to steer around the challenges rather than being swept up in their wake.
They can be a sounding board for ideas, help you consider things from a different perspective, and order your thoughts; they can help you to find the next step or the right words and brighten a cold lonely day when you are frozen and wet and the sheep aren’t cooperating.
They will listen for as long as you need and can connect you with local contacts or additional support if needed.
They will never feel your call was unnecessary.
So next time you are mulling something over, want to test a line of thinking, or just fancy a chat with someone who ‘gets farming’, Take 5 minutes and give FCN a call.
We are here every day, from 7am to 11pm on 03000 111999 or email help@fcn.org.uk.
In National Helplines Week, we would like to acknowledge the important work our FCN volunteers and thank them sincerely on behalf of all those farming families they have helped during the last thirty-one years.
Marianne’s Helpline Volunteer Experience
I have been an FCN helpline volunteer for some 2.5 years and it’s been… moving, sad, surprising, always engaging and occasionally, dare I say it, fun(ny).
The phone rings, a voice tells you that it’s a call for FCN and then you’re on…. listening, not just to what is being said, but how: calm, reluctant, breathless, matter of fact… You listen for the pauses, for what’s not being said, or not yet.
Sometimes the caller is in a really difficult situation – then it’s rewarding to be able to help by referring them to an FCN volunteer in the region, who will get in touch within 24 to 48 hours, who can talk in person, knows what resources are available locally.
Sometime you’re able to help straight away by giving information or suggesting where it might be found.
Sometimes it’s fun – when you are suddenly brainstorming together, coming up with ideas for a solution.
And then there are the calls when you experience the magic that can happen when someone can talk to you in confidence: how trust starts to develop, how in that conversation a situation can be assessed, redefined, explored, the focus widened or narrowed, and suddenly a solution, a way forward becomes apparent. Those who call us are from the farming community and they are resilient and resourceful. Very often all it takes is that helpline volunteer at the other end of the line to listen, to talk through the options, to take a step back and have another look. When, towards the end of the call, the mood has lightened and somebody says: ‘thank you, that really helped to clarify things, I know what I’ll do’, you hang up and are happy you are an FCN volunteer.
Alma’s Helpline Volunteer Experience
As part of my role of almost 30 years as a veterinary practice manager, I was always the first in of a morning to take back the telephone lines from the emergency overnight vet line. It became quite commonplace for farmers to phone at 7-7:30am, sometimes to arrange a visit or place an order, but increasingly during the latter years they’d call and say “I don’t want anything, I just wanted a chat and I knew you were in”.
Almost 10 years ago, I retired from my full time job and was just going to farm with my husband; we have a 250 acre hill farm and Welsh Mountain sheep.
We have since rented out the farm which has given me more time to help others by volunteering.
One evening at an RABI meeting, I was offered the chance of attending one of their 2 day Mental Health Awareness courses with a friend. I wasn’t entirely sure what this would lead to, but a chance encounter with a local FCN volunteer led me to a North Wales FCN group meeting, and the rest is almost history.
I was persuaded to volunteer both as a case worker and a helpline volunteer, as there was a shortage of Welsh speakers at that time. Here in North Wales, our group is not a very big one, but covers a large geographic area. The group was formed about 18 years ago by the then Chair, Sue Hudson. Sue has since passed this role on to me.
My regular helpline shift is every Sunday, either the 7am -11am or 11am – 3pm shift. Most Sundays are quiet, but recently we have seen a few more calls coming through.
On taking a helpline call, I always have at the back of my mind, that if it’s not a straightforward question which I’m confident of dealing with, we are always fully supported by a ‘network’ of brilliant, knowledgeable people, and if they don’t know the answer, they will usually know someone who does!
This is both a comfort and a ‘stop gap’ – where you are able to reassure the caller by telling them that you are answering the helpline for the whole of the UK, and you will contact the coordinator for their particular area, who will probably be able to access the necessary help required. It is like life in general – farmers usually ‘know someone’ who has the answer to everyday farming problems with livestock and machinery, but with more complex issues, such as finances, mental health, succession and family issues they are far more out of their comfort zone and not used to dealing with these issues on a daily basis.
I find that if I’m honest with them and ask them to bear with me, and that I don’t have the answer they are looking for, but will try to find someone who may know, then the call they have made and opened up to us about, has given them the opportunity to offload and share and can be so liberating for them. Sometimes they may be telling a complete stranger something they couldn’t think about sharing with even their closest family.
Quite often, the caller will say “Thank you for listening, I feel better for telling you”. My response to them is often, “Thank you for sharing, you have made a big step today in trying to sort your problem out”. For me, it’s always a two-way situation of listening and understanding their fears, and giving reassurance, knowing that most of the time they will get good advice from our knowledgeable volunteers.