Hello I'm Matthew Williams

I 'm a beef and sheep farmer from mid Wales I have a wife and three kids and understand a little bit about the mental and financial pressure in the agriculture sector at the moment. And when I say that I don't mean just farmers also people who have a connection to the farming industry. The pressure we are now all facing is very real and very unpredictable..

So I been thinking for probably 12 or 18 months about raising money for a charity to try and do something to support farmers and the industry we live and breath.. I had heard like many others about the DPJ foundation and the very sad story that goes with it but also all the great stuff they are doing to support this industry and to be honest I had no idea the level of support these people are offering so much so my mind was made up fairly quick as this was my chosen charity..

Then for the small matter of what I was going to do .. I felt it had to be something that I was very uncomfortable doing as in not something I could do easily ,like something that at that moment 18 months ago was impossible for me to do ..

So decided to put my name down for the Cardiff half marathon.. now I know there are people out there that could do this with ease but I can't tell you what an impossible task this was when I thought about it .. I was close to 20 stone in weight I literally couldn't of run 50 yards not alone 13.5 mile so that's when it started for me ..

I joined a running club I lost around the 4,5 stone and I have done a couple of 10 k runs and only is it now that I feel I'm confident enough to ask for some sponsorship but I still have no idea can I actually do this but I'm going to try my very best ..

I know farmers in general keep there cards close to there chest and in general maybe don't like to talk to much about mental health but this issue is very real and stats at the moment are one farmer a week takes there own life .. this is unacceptable to me and if some how we can help in a small way by raising some money so this foundation can support and help people in our own industry then I think we should..

And all I would ask if you could find some spare money to sponsor me I would be very grateful and please just give what you can I will be happy with anything and let's try to get a few quid raised for this great charity which is so close to many peoples hearts ..

Thanks again for you're support Matthew