Sheep farmer ‘over the moon’ after William donates £5,000 to fundraiser

A sheep farmer has expressed his profound joy, stating he was "over the moon" after the Prince of Wales donated £5,000 to his walking fundraising campaign for rural mental health.

Prince William’s contribution supports Sam Stables, a Duchy tenant and the founder of We Are Farming Minds, an organisation of which the royal is a patron.

In a message posted on Mr Stables’s Instagram, the Prince said: “Keep going, Sam! You’re doing an amazing job! Thinking of you, W.”

Mr Stables said he was “absolutely over the moon” about the “kind gesture”.

In a post on Instagram on Wednesday, he said: “I’ve just had some incredible news.

“I’m just walking out of Brill, and everything in Brill seems to be brill because I’ve just heard the news that Prince William’s kindly donated £5000 to the walk, which is absolutely incredible.”

William met Mr Stables in January on a visit to Herefordshire to highlight the importance of mental health support across the farming community.

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Mr Stables has partnered with the Farm Safety Foundation and their Mind Your Head campaign to walk 142 miles from Ross-on-Wye to London to raise funds for the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs.

The prince became patron of We Are Farming Minds in March last year.

The Herefordshire-based charity provides fully funded counselling, a 24/7 support line, training, social events, information advice and broader support to raise awareness of the importance of mental health.