Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen actor Ian Pirie lends voice to farmers’ mental health campaign

Aberdeen actor Ian Pirie provides a voiceover for the film. Picture by Heather Fowlie
Aberdeen actor Ian Pirie provides a voiceover for the film. Picture by Heather Fowlie

Aberdeen actor Ian Pirie has leant his voice to a short film about the vital role of farming in society, in an effort to draw attention to the mental health of those who work in agriculture.

The video, directed by award-winning filmmaker Jason Connery and entitled We All Need A Farmer, features a series of striking images of the countryside alongside a poem and a piece of specially composed music by Tom Lyne.

The project is the brainchild of Midlothian farmer and animal health advisor Scott Brown, who said he was inspired to create it after one of his close friends took his own life earlier this year.

‘Challenges pile up on top of people’

Mr Brown, who wrote the poem featured in the film with his friend Ross Montague, said: “In February of this year, a local farmer and friend Grant Brand took his own life, and for me, the tragic loss of Grant was the catalyst to try and do something to hopefully make a difference to the mindset of other people who may also be struggling mentally.”

He added: “Everyone, including the farming community has had a difficult time facing up to Covid-19 in the past 18 months.

“But, in many cases, the impact of the pandemic simply added to the burden of uncertainty faced by Scottish farmers around issues like Brexit and climate change.

“Sadly, these wider challenges can pile up on top of people and in the past few years we have seen a significant increase in mental health issues in the farming community.”

Midlothian farmer Scott Brown. Supplied by Scene and Herd Date

After coming up with the concept for the film, he received encouragement from farmers’ support charity RSABI and reached out to Jason Connery – son of Sir Sean – through friends who lived on a a farm neighbouring his house.

It was Mr Connery who recommended Ian Pirie, the star of films including Les Miserables, The Dark Knight and Sunset Song, to provide an unmistakable voiceover.

Mr Connery said: “The words that Scott and Monty wrote as the script for ‘We all need a Farmer’ are fantastic and I knew when I read them that this had potential to be a really good short film.

“I hope that it gives the farming community the boost they deserve.”

We All Need A Farmer will play a key part in the launch of a major new campaign to raise awareness of mental health issues in farming.

FarmStrong, an initiative which began in rural New Zealand, will be brought to Scotland in the near future thanks to financial backing from the Movember charity.

Whatever you’re going through, you can call Samaritans free any time on 116 123 or email: jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org to find details of your nearest branch.