Philip Williams had never had a day off until a sheepdog clattered into his leg, leaving him in plaster for eight weeks to help repair mangled knee ligaments.What made it worse for the 35-year-old farmer from Church Stretton was the accident happened right at the beginning of the lambing season.

“It couldn’t have come at a more difficult time,” he said.

“Lambing is one of the busiest times of the year and there I was in a plastercast with strict orders to put my feet up.”

Amazingly, Philip’s small acreage means he doesn’t qualify for the Single Farm Payment. With the farm about to grind to a halt, he called the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI).

“If I’d have received the Single Farm Payment there was no way I would ever ring for help but I really didn’t see any other way out of this predicament,” he explained.

“Even when they did offer me some help I was reluctant to accept it as I’ve never had anything from anyone before. RABI paid for someone to come in and help my wife with the feeding and lambing until I was back on my feet.

“We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Of course, given he has spent every day of his working life toiling on the farm, Philip’s enforced period of inactivity was hard.

“I was looking out of the window on the first day and thought ‘this is magic’. But the following eight weeks were an absolute nightmare and I couldn’t wait to get back out there.”