{"id":290136,"date":"2026-02-18T15:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/290136\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T15:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:55:11","slug":"yana-founder-melinda-raker-named-farming-mental-health-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/290136\/","title":{"rendered":"YANA founder Melinda Raker named farming mental health hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The Farm Safety Foundation, which runs the Mind Your Head mental health campaign, has named Melinda Raker<\/a> as England\u2019s 2026 “Mind Your Head Hero” – praising her “astonishing record of service to rural communities and the charities that support them”.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mrs Raker, from Croxton, near Thetford, was instrumental in the creation of Norfolk-based mental health charity\u00a0YANA (You Are Not Alone)<\/a> in 2008, offering confidential support and counselling to people\u00a0affected by stress and depression in farming and rural communities across East Anglia.\n<\/p>\n

\n She has helped bring “vital conversations into the open long before they became part of the national discourse,” says the Farm Safety Foundation.\n<\/p>\n

\n It adds: “Her instinct for collaboration and her gift for bringing the right people together at the right moment have made YANA not just a service, but a lifeline.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Farm Safety Foundation manager Stephanie Berkeley said: “Melinda\u2019s influence has been felt not through fanfare or insistence, but through a steady, determined commitment to improving the lives of others \u2013 a hallmark of the most effective champions.\n<\/p>\n

\n “In honouring Melinda, we acknowledge not only her achievements, but the spirit behind them: a rare combination of compassion, tenacity and unflagging enthusiasm that has illuminated the path for so many. England\u2019s Mind Your Head Hero could hardly be more aptly named.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Mrs Raker was made an MBE in 2024 in recognition of her work with YANA and other charities.\n<\/p>\n

\n YANA charity director Robin Hepburn said: \u201cMelinda has worked tirelessly for the farming sector for decades. She was present when YANA was born and continues to advocate for those in need.\n<\/p>\n

\n “All of us at YANA join with many others in congratulating Melinda on being England\u2019s 2026 Mind Your Head Hero. She is – and always will be – our YANA hero.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The YANA helpline<\/a> can be reached on 0300 323 0400 or via helpline@yanahelp.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Farm Safety Foundation, which runs the Mind Your Head mental health campaign, has named Melinda Raker as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-290136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}