MIND YOUR HEAD HERO WALES – Emma O’Sullivan
Wales’s Mind Your Head Hero is a woman whose resilience, compassion and quiet determination have made rural mental health support available and accessible across the nation.
Emma O Sullivan, The DPJ Foundation
Many will know her by her former name, Emma Picton‑Jones – the founder of The DPJ Foundation – but it is the journey she has walked and the lives she has touched, that define her far more than any surname. Emma O’Sullivan is, in many ways, the embodiment of rural life: a primary teacher and deputy head at Saundersfoot School, a small‑scale sheep farmer and a mother of three young children – Mali, Trystan and Eryn – all rooted in their family farm in Clarbeston, Pembrokeshire. Yet it was tragedy, not ambition, that set her on the path to becoming one of the most influential advocates for mental health in Welsh farming.
In July 2016, at 27, Emma found herself widowed by the suicide of her husband Daniel. In the raw aftermath of loss, she began to understand the scale and silence of mental health struggles within the farming community – struggles that were often hidden, dismissed or endured alone.
The DPJ Foundation was born from that realisation, created in Daniel’s name to reduce stigma, provide meaningful support and equip those in the sector with the awareness and skills needed to recognise and respond to mental ill‑health and crisis situations.
What began in Pembrokeshire as a tribute has become a national force for good. Under Emma’s leadership, the Foundation’s Share the Load helpline and counselling service established in 2018, has delivered professional support to more than 1,400 people, offering a listening ear to countless others by phone or text.
The Foundation’s work has continued to expand in thoughtful, practical ways. The Hywel Davies lorry launched in late 2019 has travelled across south‑west Wales and beyond offering farmers physical health checks and a confidential space to talk. Its success has now led to the creation of Lori y Gogledd, providing the same service in the north. More than 2,500 people have been seen through these initiatives, each conversation another quiet step towards healthier communities.
Over 5,000 people across Wales have taken part in DPJ mental health awareness sessions, equipping neighbours, friends and professionals with the understanding needed to support those around them. The Foundation has launched a podcast, broadened its outreach, and worked tirelessly to bring rural mental health into the public eye in Wales.
Emma was honoured with a Pride of Britain Award in recognition of a contribution that has extended far beyond Wales’s borders. Yet perhaps the most remarkable element of Emma’s work is the way she has carried it. With humanity, with humility and with an unwavering belief that no one in farming should face their darkest moments alone.
Today, as Wales’s Mind Your Head Hero, she stands as a testament to what courage can build: not just a charity, but a lifeline; not just a response to tragedy, but a lasting legacy of hope for farming families across the nation.
