Macra na Feirme’s ‘Make the Moove’ charity campaign has officially received a large donation from the Ultra Cyclists who cycled the Wild Atlantic Way last July.
The Ultra Cyclists cycled over 2,000km to raise funds and endured high temperatures on long days on the bike during the course of more than six days.
They raised over €55,000 for three mental health charities: Mind Space Mayo, turn2me.ie and Macra na Feirme’s Make the Moove service for farmers and rural people.
The main sponsors of the Ultra Cyclists were Agriland Media Group, Efficient Farm Systems (EFS) and Lely, Mullingar.
Make the Moove
Make The Moove has grown from a pilot programme in north Tipperary in 2019 to a programme which spans across many counties.
The programme provides specific training for farmers around minding their emotional wellbeing and giving easy-to-use techniques that everyone can use to maintain a healthy mind.
The programme has also provided 5,000 wellbeing support kits to farmers right across Tipperary.
More recently, the programme conducted some research in Roscommon around farmers mental health and wellbeing. The main issues identified in Tipperary in 2019 remain the same in Roscommon, namely isolation, loneliness, and increasingly a more prevalent cause of stress is uncertainty around the future of family farms in Ireland.
“Make the Moove aims to develop the programme to grow its support service and to develop further training specifically designed for farmers and rural people,” Macra president, John Keane said.
“The funds raised by the Ultra Cyclists will help to develop the programme with the addition of a team member.”
In the months ahead Make the Moove aims to develop the support service further while also developing a more stable funding base as the demand for the services and training provided continues to grow in communities right across the country.