A FARMING family from Napton have received an industry award for their work raising awareness of mental health, having experienced their own personal tragedy.
Husband and wife Andy and Lynda Eadon were nominated for the NFU Community Farming Hero Awards for their campaigning and fundraising.
Sir Jeremy Wright, MP for Kenilworth and Southam, nominated the couple for their work following their son Len’s death.
Leonard took his own life on New Year’s Day and Andy and Lynda have been raising awareness and funds ever since to help prevent their family tragedy happening to others.
Since January, with support from those in Warwickshire and beyond, the Stratford and South Warwickshire NFU members have raised more than £80,000 for various charities.
Vital funds have gone to PAPYRUS, The Farm Safety Foundation and The Farming Community Network.
The family were named award winners on Back British Farming Day on Wednesday (November 2), which was postponed from September to honour the national week of mourning following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Andy and Lynda travelled to London for the NFU awards ceremony where they met other regional winners from across the country, spoke with MPs, including Sir Jeremy, and senior union officeholders.
Lynda said: “’We have tried to make, what is essentially a very difficult subject more open to discussion and one that youngsters, in particular, recognise and are prepared to talk about.
“We want young people to recognise the signs and symptoms of someone struggling and to be able to support each other by feeling able to start a conversation.”
Len was a popular figure in the Napton community and the family described him as a “caring, humorous and loving son”.
He often helped his dad at the family business, F L Eadon & Son Farm and he was a talented mechanic who also had a degree in Rural Enterprise and Land Management from Harper Adams University in Shropshire.
Sir Jeremy said: “Andy and Lynda Eadon have done remarkable work in seeking to improve support for mental health in farming following a terrible family tragedy.
“Nominating them for the NFU’s Community Farming Hero Award is a tribute to that work and to their bravery and determination, and I was glad to meet them in Parliament and discuss what can be done in the future to raise awareness.”
MPs were asked to nominate an NFU farmer in their constituency who they believed went above and beyond for their community.
This included but was not limited to – supporting their community during hard times, fundraising for charities, providing services beyond farming to the community or simply helping people to enjoy the farmed landscape.
