Farming lifeline for 150 years

This year sees the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute celebrate its 150th anniversary, with the organisation still as active today as it was at its inception.

Next month a harvest festival celebration at Ripon Cathedral will mark the anniversary formally in Yorkshire.

John Basnett, the RABI's north east welfare officer, lives in Netherton, Huddersfield and has worked for the charity for more than 11 years.

He is regularly called upon to help farmers of all ages and backgrounds, dealing with two to three cases per week of farmers in need of assistance.

"I get sent out to people who were referred to us by different organisations," he said. "These come from bodies such as the social services, the Royal British Legion, the NFU etc. They get referred to us with problems.

"Getting people to accept help is often the biggest stumbling block, farmers in particular do not like to feel like they are receiving charity.

"A lot is helping out the retired and disable farmer managers, agricultural workers and the dependents."

Mr Basnett said that problems often centred around fairly basic issues but that often things could become much more complex and troublesome.

"Sometimes it is a case of going out to see them and making sure they are receiving state benefits they are entitled to but are often not claiming. Since April alone we have helped claw back 51,000 in state benefits that people simply were entitled to."

He said the charity has operated on a fairly consistent model since its founding.

"When it first started it was a case of a few pence from a grant being donated. The concept of help has remained but the methods of doing it have been updated. We work much more in tandem with other organisations, particularly in Yorkshire."

The charity was at its most needed at the start of the last decade during the foot and mouth crisis of 2001. Mr Basnett said that the outbreak reinforced the good work the institute does and underlined the constant need it has for donations.

"We rely heavily on donations," he said. "In 2001, the year of foot and mouth, 12.1m was donated to us. The majority of people who came to us looking for help were those who were not getting any compensation and were stuck on the farm for 18 months without the means of putting food on the table.

"We still have people struggling as a result of that outbreak," he said. "They are still trying to build up their herd and of course we have had Bluetongue disease and flooding since then."

The work RABI does bridges the age spectrum. Mr Basnett related a recent case in which the charity helped out one young family when both father and child were suffering health problems by bringing a farm worker to help while they were able to recover.

CW 4/9/10