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The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) is partnering with rural mental health and wellbeing advocate Craig “Wiggy” Wiggins.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) is partnering with rural mental health and wellbeing advocate Craig “Wiggy” Wiggins to help the rural sector.
Wiggins has become a patron for the association in a move expected to bring greater support to those living and working in rural communities.
The “Whatever With Wiggy” founder is well known for his rural mental health initiatives, including “Lean on a gate, talk to a mate” and his Facebook group.
Established in response to the 2020 Covid lockdown, the Whatever With Wiggy Charitable Trust seeks to maintain and build connections within the rural community.
Initially, “Whatever With Wiggy” consisted of a Zoom meeting every Thursday night, with up to 80 attendees, discussing topics from Covid, to politics, to mental health and all issues affecting rural communities.
Now, Wiggy’s work also includes nationwide Rural Health and Wellbeing checks with the Carr Family Foundation, checking farmers’ overall health and wellbeing at rural events, and Agriconnect, that provides mental health seminars for the rural service industry and rural professionals.
“Being invited to be a patron for FCANZ is an exciting time. It allows us another way to connect with another important part of the rural community – and means that we can continue supporting those who need it,” says Wiggins.
“We’re already hearing about the stresses that rural fencing contractors are under trying to support their existing clients, while servicing all of the insurance assessments coming through – not to mention dealing with the impact that the cyclone has had on their own personal and business lives.”
FCANZ has always had a connection with Wiggy, in its members raising $15,000 for the “Whatever With Wiggy” charitable trust in an impromptu charity auction at their annual conference.
Phil Cornelius, FCANZ president, says, “As an association we represent the whole of the fencing industry, but our roots are very rural, and many of our members are still strongly connected with the rural sector.
“Rural mental health has always been a challenge, but even more so now in light of the unprecedented destruction caused by the extreme weather events of the first two months of 2023.”
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