A WEST Devon organisation which supports people after times of crisis is celebrating a £500 donation from the police, part of the £7,000 raised by the officers during the foot and mouth crisis.
Cheque beneficiary Stresscare has a network of counsellors in the South West, with 15 in West Devon.
Co-ordinator Caroline Keane said: 'We had already carried out research into the levels of stress amongst the farming community prior to the foot and mouth outbreak — the only organisation to have done this.'
Mrs Keane said the £500 will pay for this research — and now Stresscare will apply for more funding to carry out a 'de-briefing' exercise, post foot and mouth.
Mrs Keane said this initiative is aimed at preventing the onset of post traumatic stress disorder amongst the community most affected by foot and mouth.
'We expect to start with a small group of children early in the spring.
' It is important to have a reasonable gap of, say, six months from the termination of the crisis, because there is a settling in period for the disorder and care has to be taken with the timing to prevent further damage,' she said.
Stresscare is currently in the process of organising the initiative, which will also work with the farming families as well as children.
Mrs Keane was due to attend the foot and mouth public meeting in Okehampton last night (Wednesday), when the chairman of the Lessons Learned Inquiry, Dr Iain Anderson, heard directly from those who experienced the crisis.