“Unfortunately, things hit a bad patch,” Pip said, “and I had to lose everything.”

“Not being one to run to the doctor,” though, she had to work through her resulting mental health issues alone.

Pip, in her 60s, who currently lives in Weymouth, said: “Farmers are notorious for wanting to keep battling on. They don’t like putting their hands up and saying ‘I’ve got a problem’.”

As a result of her experience, she is seeking to open a “working wellbeing farm” near Bridgwater in Somerset.

Merry Moos Farm Project, a non-profit community interest company, would provide outdoor activities for a variety of clients, from adults with serious learning and physical difficulties, to those suffering from stress, burnout and social isolation.

Activities would include handling livestock, gardening, picking and growing crops, and attending craft workshops.

Pip said: “There is very limited capacity in the NHS to help people who are going through wellbeing issues, and an outdoor environment is the best thing for them since sliced bread.

“Mental health is not talked about enough; it is still this taboo. I’ve only just started to become comfortable in talking about my own problems, but that’s because of the way mental health is viewed.

“If somebody walks down the road with their arm in a plaster, you know they’ve done something to their arm. But you cannot put a plaster on somebody’s brain. It doesn’t work like that.

Pip wants to “reconnect” people with nature to benefit their wellbeing. (Image: Pip Langdown)

“At Merry Moos, we would treat everybody as individuals. They’d come along and see what they wanted to do every morning. If they wanted, they could go out and work with the horses. Or they could just go and sit in the wildlife area.”

Merry Moos would give people “the tools and the environment to try and get them back on the right track.”

Pip is still seeking funding to get the project over the line, which includes raising funds through GoFundMe and Crowdfunder.

She added: “I strongly believe that there are people out there, and if they get to know what we do, we could get the doors of this project open and assist a lot of people.

“At its heart, the idea is actually very simple: it’s about reconnecting people with nature. That’s the kind of structure that Merry Moos would be.”