Rural Students Launch Jersey Business to Support Mental Health

Five students from Christchurch Girls' High School have started a clothing business to raise awareness and support for rural mental health. The Rural Collective was founded by Lucy Honeywell, Grace McKnight, Maddy Judd, Millie McAlistair, and Georgia Henderson as part of their Business Studies class assignment.

The students drew on their shared rural backgrounds and firsthand experience of the pressures facing farming families to come up with an idea for a business. 'We knew that we wanted to do something to support rural mental health, but we just didn't know what yet,' Honeywell said.

They approached Dog and Country, which supplied the navy jerseys embroidered with The Rural Collective logo and the slogan, 'Behind every farm is a mind that matters.' The students sell the jerseys through their website for $99.99, with 50% of proceeds going to Farmstrong, which provides practical resources to help farmers manage the highs and lows of farming.

The students were concerned about the cost of purchasing the initial stock but received support from the community. 'At the beginning we thought one of the challenges would be getting the funds to do the first production run,' Judd said. They had sponsors like Farmside, Plains Irrigators, Rivers to Ranges, Pāmu, Ravensdown, FMG, Blink Boutique, Cates and Hazlett backing them.

Each student brought different strengths to The Rural Collective. Honeywell took on a leadership role, while McAlistair has an eye for aesthetics and knack for connecting with people. Judd helped keep the team aligned, Henderson created the website, and McKnight took charge of production and marketing.