Shed Shout on a winter’s night
Module Overview
Foggy weather didn’t deter 50 people turning up to a recent Saturday night Shed Shout near Reefton.
The event was hosted by local dairy farmers and Farmstrong champions Abbi Ayre and her husband Frikkie Terblanche.
Abbi says it took about two weeks to pull together the event which aimed to boost people’s wellbeing and sense of connection over the winter months.
“I thought we were only going to get 10 people but 50 showed up including kids. We just kept things really simple with a barbecue and sausages and a bouncy castle for the kids.”
It was a real team effort, says Abbi, with Frikkie helping set-up during the day and then busy all night on the barbecue.
“We also acted on a few tips that Farmstrong ambassador Sam Whitelock shared recently and got a fire going and set up a speaker to play some music. That’s a great way to draw people in and get them to connect because we didn’t know half the people there. It was also cold because the fog didn’t lift all day!”
Abbi shared Farmstrong resources and merch at the event.
“Having Farmstrong associated with the event helped draw people in. I counted up how many people were coming at 3pm and I saw there were 50! So, it was full on for a while, but it literally took us an hour to set up. I gave away Farmstrong books, bags, beanies, caps and mugs. I’ll tell you what, we could have given out 50 beanies that night it was so cold.”
Tools and Tips
“When I was telling them about Farmstrong I compared it to the preventative things we do in farming for stock to prevent disease and keep them healthy. I said, Farmstrong’s doing the same for us with all these little quick, easy tools and tips that you can use to protect your own health and wellbeing. And I told them the books are full of farmers like us, sharing stories of how they got through tough times and if you can pick a tip up from them to take forward, then that’s great.”
Abbi says the key to the success for events like this is keeping things simple. A Facebook post and a mail drop invite to nearby locals (courtesy of the local postie) took care of marketing. She also decided to offer sausages, onions and bread rather than put on a pot luck because the cooking and prep can be a barrier for busy people.
The response to the first event was so positive more Shed Shouts are planned over the next few months.
“I’ve got a couple of other farms interested so we are going to do a different Shed Shout at a different shed every Friday over calving for smaller groups and make it as interactive as possible.”
“This is a super easy way to pull people together if you are thinking of doing something to help people stay connected and keep well during calving. As Sam Whitelock says, the key is to ‘lock it in’ – put it in your calendar and do it.”
Abbi says calving can be a busy time for families.
Staying connected
“The trouble is when you get busy on farm it’s easy to go into your shell and not do these things. But social connection is such a basic human need. People really miss face-to-face interactions. I had people text me afterwards saying, thanks for organising a good night.”
“Nights like this are about bringing people together. You know, like we’ve had a pretty hard season here in Reefton. So, an event like this is just letting everyone know that they’re not alone and you’re all going through the same thing.”
“There’s also real value in just getting off farm for a bit, even if you’re just going to someone else’s farm,” she laughs.
“The trick is to keep things simple. We’re all so busy in our lives nowadays. We often say, ‘oh, yeah, we must catch up’, but then we don’t. This was like, finish work and just come along as you are and have some fun. Being Farmstrong doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.”
Farmstrong is nationwide, rural wellbeing programme that helps farmers and growers manage the ups and downs of farming and growing. For free mental fitness tools and resources head to www.farmstrong.co.nz/toolbox/
