A SCOTTISH family-run business announces partnership with The Hamilton Ross Group this week as part of the company’s 90th anniversary celebrations.
RSABI stocks machinery across six divisions, including agriculture, groundcare, and construction, spread over six depots in the central belt of Scotland, operating under two trading companies, Hamilton Brothers and R&R Machinery.
The business’ family ethos is shared across its farming supplier base, with AGCO machinery brands Massey Ferguson, Valtra and Fendt, along with JCB Agriculture, accounting for a major part of its agricultural sales.
Farming is woven through the history of the Hamilton Ross Group and RSABI was a natural fit to be its chosen charity for this special year.
The firm will be supporting the charity’s work to deliver practical, emotional and financial support to those working in the Scottish agriculture industry, through fundraising and awareness-raising throughout the year.
At the launch of the partnership, a Mental Health First Aid training course was delivered to an initial 12 members of staff from The Hamilton Ross Group, hosted at the R&R Machinery depot in Lanark.
The training is part of a pioneering initiative being rolled out across the industry by RSABI and IED Training Solutions Ltd, an award-winning consultancy founded by former Royal Marines.
IED and RSABI joined forces and began rolling out the training to those working in the agriculture industry earlier this year after various synergies were identified between the marines and farming, including isolation, strenuous work, and long hours.
Delivered by Hugh Jones (Major, retired), who previously served in the Royal Marines for 37 years, the training course aims to inform participants of what to look out for and how to respond when someone may be struggling with their mental health, with all the staff who took part achieving an SCQF Level 5 Award in First Aid for Mental Health.
Passionate about growing the conversation around mental health, the Group is also sponsoring The Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC) National Photography Competition, at the Royal Highland Show in June.
This year the competition has RSABI’s #KeepTalking message as its theme, encouraging people in agricultural communities to reach out and reconnect with friends, neighbours, relatives and others who might be feeling isolated.
The hope is this year’s photography competition will help to reduce stigma by encouraging people to think and talk more freely about mental health.
Jamie Gardiner, Operations Director at the Hamilton Ross Group said: “We are delighted to be supporting RSABI, and we think that their purpose aligns well with our values.
“The Mental Health First Aid Training really opened our eyes as to how we can help our staff and the people in our community.
“As a family-run business, it’s important that we remain embedded in the local communities, and that our development is sustainable for the future generations to come, and thankfully, the different locations from which we operate allow for a variety of actions to be taken.
“With more donations planned across the rest of the year, we’re sure that this partnership will be a fruitful one.”
Carol McLaren, CEO of RSABI said the charity was extremely grateful the Hamilton Ross Group, a long-standing member of the charity’s supporters’ scheme, has chosen to work in partnership with them for the group’s 90th anniversary year.
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Hamilton Ross Group team, not only with fundraising but also with their commitment to helping support the work we do, particularly relating to mental health and emotional support.
“There are some really encouraging green shoots of change as farmers become more open about talking about mental health and the steps needed to maintain and improve it but there is still a lot of work to be done, and this sort of support from the agricultural community makes such a difference.”
RSABI offers free practical, financial and emotional support including counselling services, delivered quickly after receiving the initial enquiry.
Their free confidential support service is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, by calling 0808 1234 555 (calls won’t show up on phone bills) or through a confidential webchat service, available on RSABI’s website.
To join RSABI’s Supporters’ Scheme – vital to allow the charity to do the work it does – please visit https://www.rsabi.org.uk/support-us/
For more information on the Hamilton Ross Group, visit www.hamiltonrossgroup.co.uk.
