Victorian values

Traditional wool-related crafts such as spinning and weaving appear to be enjoying the same sort of revival as knitting has in recent years. But many sheep farmers are facing levels of poverty not seen since Victorian times, according to an Oxford-based charity.

The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI), which has offices in West Way, Oxford, has been supporting families of impoverished farmers for 153 years. RABI was founded in 1860 by John Joseph Mechi.

In the mid-1800s a group of Essex farmers had become concerned about the level of poverty within the farming community and the absence of an official body to represent them. In 1859 Mechi wrote to The Times to rally support for the founding of a benevolent institution that would seek funds and distribute them to the needy.

During RABI’s early years, the number of applicants far outweighed available funds, but as support gathered pace, by the mid-1930s, RABI was maintaining 1,000 pensioners at an annual cost of £32,000

In 1999 the charity’s Charter was amended to include farm workers and their families and in 2001 RABI was nominated as one of five charities for HM The Queen's Golden Jubilee Year.

Coming up to date, from January to September last year, RABI helped 292 farmers, nearly three times as many as in the same period in 2012. Help comes in the form of food vouchers, school uniforms, electricity bills and funeral expenses.

RABI’s communication manager, Philippa Spackman, speaking to The Independent newspaper just before Christmas, said: "These people are amazingly resilient, and we won't underpin a failing business, but the families need the basic support. They will often go without themselves rather than let the animals suffer. We are truly talking about Victorian conditions."

A sheep farmer working a hill farm earns, on average, only £6,000 a year – and has unsurprisingly has led to around 5,000 men leaving agriculture in 2012. It is estimated that 60,000 new entrants are needed in the farming industry in the next decade to ensure its sustainability.

Feed prices are up 33 per cent and, just like the rest of us, farmers are facing massive rises in their energy bills. The price of meat from the sheep is also down, fat lambs fetching about £70 each. But help could be at hand if the Government takes notice of a call from Lib-Dem MP Tim Farron.

The MP for the South Lakes constituency in Westmorland and Lonsdale, chairs of the all-party parliamentary hill farming group and has urged the Government to investigate the gap between the price farmers receive for fleeces and the shelf price of wool which has been driven sky-high by a growing demand for British wool from China.

Mr Farron said: "We need to do all we can to support our farming industry, particularly in the uplands where life can be a real struggle. This support and funding could make a massive difference to upland farmers throughout Cumbria and help show the next generation that there is a real future in a career in farming."

But Mr Farron, who is also national president of the Liberal Democrats, said that he wanted the grocery adjudicator to investigate the gap between the price the farmer received for the fleece and the shelf price, and would put down a parliamentary question for Jo Swinson, the minister for employment relations, consumer and postal affairs.

Meanwhile RABI is preparing for its annual fund-raising Farmhouse Breakfast event, which this year takes place from the end of January. Free promotional resourses are available from Melanie Moughton on 01865 811582 or email melanie.moughton@rabi.org.uk

For more information about RABI visit the website: www.rabi.org.uk