The Mid Canterbury Rural Support Trust is looking for a new trustee following the departure of one of its founders.

Allan Baird was one of the trust’s founding members, and stepped down from his role at the AGM in May.

“He’s been on there for about 30 years, or since its inception,” current trustee Rochelle Castle-Wilson said.

“Over the course of that time, there’s been quite a bit of change.

“We were put into place for adverse events, particularly weather, but over the years there’s been bovis, and all sorts of other events.”

The trust has expanded to help farmers locate support for financial, legal and health issues since its creation, with a focus on mental health in recent years.

“In Mid Canterbury, we’ve worked really hard in the last 18 months on lifting the profile of the trust, so people know that we’re not only there if it snows.”

Castle-Wilson said farmers are experiencing a lot of mental and financial pressure, and making sure wellbeing resources are available for them is really important.

“Rural people are often not as aware of the resources available to them, and are used to working in isolation and dealing with things on their own.”

She said while the trust is advertising for trustees, the demand for help goes beyond finances. The trust needs ‘foot soldiers’ who can lend a hand to their community in a crisis.

“We’re really trying to get off the ground the ‘friends of the Rural Support Trust’ - people who will come out of the woodwork to assist locally.”

“If we have an adverse event, suddenly you need teams of people to come and do fencing, evacuate stock, that sort of thing.”

The trust has set up stalls at events across Mid Canterbury this year, like the Ruralco Instore Days, to foster conversations around rural wellbeing.

Castle-Wilson said while people want to give back to the community, they weren’t sure how.

“A lot of people want to give back, but don’t want to sit in the governance role.”

The ‘friends’ role would enable people to volunteer what time and resources they can afford to spare for their neighbourhood.

“While the trustees are in the loop, rural support needs to be so much more than that.”

If you’re interested in becoming a trustee or ‘friend’ of the Rural Support Trust, contact Jo Cook at 027 683 9832, or jo.cook @ruralsupport.org.nz

By Anisha Satya