Vicar’s JCB road trip benefits farming charities
Richard who is national rural lead for the Church of Wales is one our rural heroes. This article profiles his innovative fund raising approach involving a big tractor and 650 miles of Welsh countryside – however the coverage he achieved has allowed him to get some other interesting facts about rural isolation on the radar. Read on:
Rev Kirlew is not your typical vicar. He was ordained late in life – in Wells Cathedral in 2005 after a working life that included a spell in the ambulance service and running a classic car storage business. “I had been fighting off ordination for a number of years, but I was eventually collared in the true sense of the word,” he jokes.
He is a regular visitor to livestock markets and believes they’re a vital social link for the farming community. “They are an opportunity for farmers to meet up and chew over the fat. When I visit, I notice they are always absolute hubs of chatter, places where people can share their concerns or seek advice from others over a cup of tea.”
He recognises that isolation is becoming more of an issue, as more farmers’ wives seek employment off-farm to supplement the family income. “Isolation is more of a problem in Wales because we have a high concentration of small hill farms which tend to be run by one person.”
His rural parish has a high volume of second homes and, in years gone by, his congregation would be swelled by city dwellers spending the weekend in the country. But in the last 12 months he has noticed a worrying trend, which he believes has been sparked by the high cost of fuel. “We don’t see nearly as many of these visitors any longer. Those that I have spoken to are finding it too expensive to drive here,” he said.
Many of these issues are equally relevant to some upland communities close to our heart in England. What can our separate nations learn from each other about potential solutions to our common challenges in terms of marginal upland farming?