An “unbreakable” farmer inspires locals at Wagin Football Club about mental health at a Blue Tree Project BBQ

An “unbreakable” farmer who lost everything when financial troubles forced him to give up his farm of 20 years inspired Wheatbelt locals on Thursday with his message of courage and vulnerability. Speaking at the Wagin Football Club, Warren Davies opened up about his experience as part of the Blue Tree Project’s rural tour, which kicked off in Brookton on June 19 and has been visiting regional towns around Western Australia to encourage vulnerable conversations and raise awareness about mental health. The dairy farmer turned inspirational speaker said he was looking for his purpose when he fell into a speaker role by chance and has now appeared in front of audiences Australia-wide. Mr Davies — who walked away from the farm he had bought at 22 years old and ultimately his identity eight years ago — said it was important for rural communities to talk about mental health. “I believe all farmers are unbreakable,” he said. “My mission is to create awareness and education around mental health and wellbeing, particularly in rural communities, to inspire conversations and to empower people to seek help.” The Richmond supporter said football clubs had the potential to be a great environment to break down the barriers around mental health, but this wasn’t always the case. “Isolation is the biggest killer in our communities,” he said. “When I was facing these hardships I didn’t look after the number one asset on the farm, which is me.” The farmer said he never asked for help, but no one in his football club, work or friendship circle tried to have a conversation about mental health either. “I got to the darkest, scariest place — life is better off without me,” Mr Davies said. “But you don’t need to get there. Reach out for help.” Davies’s four Fs — family, farm, footy, and facilitating — resonated with his audience, several of whom approached him at the end of the night to share their own hardships. Wagin Bulldogs player and local Aaron Farmer said it was exciting that The Blue Tree Project was visiting his town. “I wanted to see what I could get out of it and hopefully learn how to be that shoulder for anyone around me,” he said. “It gets a lot of people involved and you learn why they do it. “It showed me that I need to work on myself more and not be afraid to ask for help.” Blue Tree Project CEO and founder Kendall Whyte said she combined their tour with the Bulldog’s football training for the tour’s seventh stop to work with the town’s environment. “Sadly, suicide statistics show that young men are at the highest risk of taking their own lives and those in rural areas even more so,” she said. “Country people are very resilient but it gets to a point where you can’t push it away again and that’s when people become very unwell.” Since the charity started in 2018, sparked by the suicide of Jayden Whyte, over 1000 trees around the world have been painted blue to raise awareness for suicide and mental health. Lifeline: 13 11 14.