A FORMER pupil at a school in Ellesmere is set to make her radio debut this week, telling life down the farm.

Down On The Farm which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4, on Tuesday July 19 at 9.30am, and was made by Megan Hayward, from near Oswestry, after it was chosen for one of this year's New Storytellers as a part of the Charles Parker Prize.

Megan, who is from near Rednal, was a student at Lakelands from 2009 and 2014 and she explained the concept of the programme.

She said: "The stressed-filled lives of Britain’s small farmers is a subject rarely spoken of outside the confines of the farming community and Farming Today.

"Up before dawn, often not in bed until the small hours.

"The multiple pressures of livestock, spiralling costs and bad weather can conspire to drive farmers to the edge of suicide.

"With at least one farmer in the UK taking their own life each week, Down On The Farm explores the struggles within the agricultural industry through poetry, music and verbatim voice.

"One farmer recounts the impact it’s had on his community, and on his own mental health.

"New Storytellers presents the work of new radio and audio producers, and this series features the winners of this year’s Charles Parker Prize 2022 for the Best Student Radio Feature."

Megan is a University of Sunderland MA student and she explained why her programme was picked up.

She said: "The judges were impressed with its 'impressive' storytelling – frank and raw and honest and a mixture of poetry and song which they said was 'beautiful and well delivered’."