Farmers’ moustaches raise mental health awareness in Lincs

An initiative to grow a moustache in November in memory of a Lincolnshire farmer has been praised for starting important conversations about mental health within the county’s rural communities while raising more than £23,000 for charity.

The Lincolnshire Rural Support Network (LRSN) created its own version of the popular Movember campaign, during which people grow moustaches to raise awareness of men’s health issues.

Mark Richardson © Richardson family

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Mark Richardson, fondly known as Smiler to his friends because he was always smiling, was a Lincolnshire farmer who took his own life in 2018.

Moustache Some Cash For Smiler has proved a huge success, with more than 200 people growing a moustache to raise awareness about the important work LRSN does in the county.

On Sunday 27 November, about 100 people gathered at Mr Richardson’s farm in Baston to celebrate his life and mark the end of the moustache-growing campaign.

© Tim Scrivener

The gathering included his wife, Jo-Anne, and daughters, Georgia, Zoe and Lucy, as well as Mr Richardson’s mother, Mary, his sister, Sarah, and her husband, James, and their children, Olivia and Marcus.

Ben Atkinson, a farmer and close childhood friend of Mr Richardson, said it was brilliant to have raised so much money for the LRSN, but the most important outcome is the conversations about mental health started by the campaign.

“Jo-Anne said a few words about the importance of men getting together and men talking, and by doing this we can all raise awareness and avoid the situation they sadly found themselves in,” Mr Atkinson told Farmers Weekly.

“I don’t think there was a dry eye there, it was really poignant. Jo said his legacy is friendship and talking, which is what the whole initiative has been about.”

Robert Brown, a great friend of Mr Richardson, helped to organise the event.

Support 

LRSN is a volunteer-led group that provides support to farming and rural communities in times of crisis. The charity’s chairman, Matt Phillips, was another close friend of Mr Richardson and decided to get involved with the organisation after he died.

“The fundraising has been fabulous, but it was always done to remember a friend and highlight the charity. There was a lot of emotion yesterday; Jo’s speech was very impactful,” Mr Phillips said.

“We knew it would raise some funds, but we wanted to remember our friend, and for his family to know we still think of him and miss him.”

In the past eight months, LRSN has supported 175 farming families, compared with 186 families for the whole of the previous year. The charity has also seen an increase in calls to its helpline.

Donations to Moustache Some Cash For Smiler can be made via JustGiving.