About Kent Farm Line

Kent Farmline was formed in 1992 in response to a high incidence of rural suicide. The Samaritans had launched a Rural Outreach Programme in the late 1980's, but found that country people were reluctant to seek help, so a group of volunteers with rural knowledge were trained for the task of listening, understanding and responding to people in distress.

In 1993 the Duchess of Kent launched Kent Farmline together with the Samaritans' Rural Initiative. In 1999 Kent Farmline's own manned helpline was introduced, and in 2000, Kent Farmline became a registered charity.

Since then, Kent Farmline has developed to provide a range of services to relieve rural stress:

The Young Person's Guide to Stress Free Living in Rural Kent is a handbook, produced with the assistance of Kent Federation of Young Farmers Clubs, which contains real life stories of the ways in which young people helped themselves when faced with difficult situations. It has received praise form organisations working with young people and has been reprinted twice.

The Connectors project encourages people who work in the rural community to publicise our work by distributing our leaflets, posters and cards, and by mentioning our work to people who might find our services useful.

Our website offers a range of information services, including access to our database, which contains information on a broad range of organisations and support agencies.

In addition to our helpline, a Befriending service is available. This service has been approved by the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation.

We also provide a weekly presence on Tuesday mornings at Ashford Market.

Contrary to our name, we do not just help farmers. Anyone with an interest in the rural community is welcome to contact us.

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