At present, FCN has 33 volunteer county groups based throughout England and Wales. Wherever you live in England or Wales, our Helpline staff can put you in touch with an FCN volunteer or other local farming support group.
For operational purposes, local volunteer groups are separated into six regions each under the guidance of a Regional Director with each local group having its own officers, led by a Co-ordinator for day to day activities. Please see below for where FCN groups operate.
Local volunteers ‘walk with’ people as they make their way through problems and difficulties so that they don’t have to face them on their own. FCN does not provide advice but can help to guide people as they resolve their problems; with links to sources of professional advice, appropriate help can be brought in when required.
Regional Directors
Co-ordinators
North:
Cumbria – Emily Postlethwaite
Lancashire – Marian Rigby
Northumberland – Simon Lloyd
Yorkshire – Helen Benson
Midlands:
Cheshire – Sharon Mayer
Derbyshire – Graham Hinds
Leicestershire – Peter Hardy (taking referrals)
Staffordshire – Peter Hardy (taking referrals)
Central:
Herefordshire – Glyn Evans (taking referrals)
Northamptonshire – Mark Betson
Warwickshire – Nicholas Bond
Worcestershire – Margaret Herbert
East:
Essex – Philip Wilson (taking referrals)
Norfolk & Suffolk – Philip Miles
Hertfordshire – Brian Burgess
South East:
Berkshire, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire (BOB) – Joy O’Neill
Hampshire & Wiltshire – Anthony Matthew
Kent – James Barber (acting co-ordinator)
Surrey / Sussex – John Simpson
South West
Cornwall – Sue Gillbard
Devon – Colin Smallacombe
Dorset – Nick Viney
Somerset – Suzie Wilkinson
Wales:
Ceredigion & West Wales – Ian Morris
Mid Wales – Pat Borland
Monmouthshire – David Williams (taking referrals)
North Wales – Mair Ansell / Janet Killow (joint co-ordinators)
Other Local Groups
FCN also works in partnership with the following local rural support organisations:
Bedfordshire & Cambridgeshire – Beds & Cambs Rural Support Group
Gloucestershire – Gloucestershire Farming Friends
Lincolnshire – Lincolnshire Rural Support Network
Nottinghamshire – Nottinghamshire Rural Support
Shropshire – Shropshire Rural Support
Scotland – Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI)
Northern Ireland – Rural Support