Special award highlights parents' work through Len's Light
The parents of a tragic young farmer who studied at Harper Adams University have been honoured for their charity work at a prestigious awards ceremony.
Andy and Lynda Eadon collected the Outstanding Contribution to British Agriculture at the British Farming Awards.
The pair lost their son Len to suicide in early 2022, at the age of 22.
Despite their profound grief, they have been dedicated to raising awareness about mental health in the farming community, aiming to prevent similar tragedies.
Through their initiative "Len's Light", the pair have raised over £170,000 for mental health charities, including the Farming Community Network, Yellow Wellies, and Papyrus.
They also organised a tractor rally from John O'Groats to Land's End, visiting agricultural sites and even Westminster, to highlight the importance of mental health support in rural areas and honour Len’s memory, https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/farming/2024/09/24/parents-ensure-lens-legacy-is-to-make-a-real-difference/
The Eadon’s said: “This award really means a tribute to our son. Obviously he was the main part of our life, and since the loss of him we’ve tried to stop other families and communities going through that heart ache we have.
"It means so much to the pair of us. We do what we feel we need to do, and that’s what has motivated us all along, right from the very beginning, we wanted to keep up awareness, and keep the whole problem very much alive in people’s minds.”
This year saw a record number of award entries with winners of each category crowned at VOX Birmingham.
Other winners included Nigel Harper of ND Harper Limited, Cheshire who was named Contractor of the Year.
Nigel said: “This is for my team, my customers and my family. The team of people behind me are the real stars. It’s a time to champion British farming, and show people the great work that we do, we’re all champions in farming, we need to shout about it.”
The Dairy Farmer of the Year award went to Tom and Karen Halton, Halton Farms Ltd, Cheshire.
Upon winning the award, the couple said: “We try so hard to do everything right at home, and just to be acknowledged and be in the top four is amazing, but to win and take it back to everyone at home is everything, we do this as a team, and the cows come first.”
The Diversification of the Year (Small to Medium) Awaed went to Cheryl Reeves, Agri-cation CIC, Wrexham.
And Grassland Farmer of the Year was Andy Goodwin, D & P Hollinshead, Cheshire.
The Farming Hero: Flying the Flag for British Agriculture Award went to Abi Reader, NFU Cymru Deputy President.
