THE FOUNDER of a Pembrokeshire-based charity which gives support to people working in agriculture with mental health issues has won a Pride of Britain award.

Emma Picton-Jones has received a Special Recognition award for her work in mental health with the DPJ Foundation in the 2018 Pride of Britain awards.

Emma, 30, hopes the award will help raise awareness of the massive effect mental illness has on people working in the agriculture sector across the UK.

“There is a lot of discussion of mental health at the moment, but mental health in the agricultural sector is a bit outside the box,” she said.

“Agriculture carries one of the highest rates of suicide,” Emma added, as statistics show one farmer a week takes their own life in the UK.

“To be able to raise awareness about this issues and to tell people on a national platform about our work in Pembrokeshire is very important.”

She also thanked her friends and co-workers at the DPJ Foundation for all their support.

“Although I am here to collect the award there are so many people which have worked on this together,” she said.

Emma set up the charity in 2016 after her husband Daniel took his own life.

She was inspired to help agricultural workers with mental health issues by a line in a letter Dan left for her: “You weren’t able to help me but you could help others”.

The charity has now raised more than £75,000 through fundraising.

The DPJ Foundation now runs a counselling referral service for agricultural workers living with mental health issues and has a 24-hour text and phone support service, launched in January, called Share the Load.

The Pride of Britain awards are being held this evening (October 29) and will be broadcast on ITV on Tuesday, November 6 at 8pm.