Farm Safety Foundation awarded £10,000

The Farm Safety Foundation or Yellow Wellies, as many know them, is an independent charity set up by rural insurer NFU Mutual, to raise awareness of farm safety among the next generation of farmers, challenge and change their attitudes to risk-taking and reduce the number of life changing and life ending incidents that continue to give farming the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK.

Since 2015, the charity has delivered its unique Introduction to Farm Safety training to over 10,000 agricultural students and young farmers at 41 different land-based colleges and universities throughout the UK and through the Young Farmers Clubs network and thanks to National Lottery funding, this impactful education programme will be given a major tech refresh for the new decade. The Foundation’s 2020 education programme will introduce ground-breaking technology in the shape of Virtual Reality (VR) which will allow the charity to continue to pioneer unique, innovative and engaging farm safety training for agricultural students.

According to Stephanie Berkeley, Manager of the Farm Safety Foundation: “Vocational training will really begin to feel the impact of virtual and augmented reality over the next few years and we are delighted to be pioneering this for the next generation of farmers. The ability to experience any training in 360 is invaluable and memorable – so to deliver training that may actually save lives and limbs in the future makes it even more important. Imagine future farmers viewing a working farm and its real risks from all angles without leaving the classroom. We are very privileged to have this opportunity to influence the next generation of farmers and start to nudge better behaviours in an industry with the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK. This is something we take very seriously.

“We are a small team but we have BIG ambitions and we can not do this alone. We work with partners and the industry all year long to engage, educate and communicate strong and relatable farm safety messages and this new project has been no different. Education is the key to driving good behaviours in the industry and we wanted to challenge the assumption that Health and Safety training is boring and make the session more active for those participating. Thanks to our funder NFU Mutual and this contribution from The National Lottery Community Fund we are able to do this. We know that young people learn in different ways and we believe in championing alternative learning methods and the value of life skills, as a way of engaging young farmers and equipping them for their chosen career. For a generation raised on interactive technologies, bringing VR into learning can help encourage active engagement and contribute to delivering the farm safety message.”

For more information on the Farm Safety Foundation please visit www.yellowwellies.org