“You don’t know what’s around the corner”: Fuel costs driving rural stress

From left, John Chapman, CEO of MATES in Construction; Lucy Waterreus, CEO of ClubsNZ; Barbara Kuriger, MP for King Country and Taranaki, deputy speaker of the house, and Patron of the Whatever with Wiggy Charitable Trust; and Craig Wiggins, meeting in Parliment in 2025. Supplied.

Rising fuel costs are placing fresh pressure on rural New Zealand, adding to the growing burden of many local farmers.

And Craig Wiggins, founder of the Mid Canterbury ‘Whatever With Wiggy’ mental health trust, says that his work is more important than ever.

As transport expenses climb, so does the strain on getting stock fed, crops harvested, and even getting children to school, Wiggins told the Guardian; a “ripple-effect” that is felt across entire farming communities.

For Wiggins, those daily rural pressures are more than economic stressors. They are increasingly tied to growing mental health challenges in the farming industry.

“Fuel costs are huge at the moment, and people are worried about what that means for everything, from getting crops off to keeping their farms running day to day." 

“We kiwis tend to just put our heads down and work harder, but that can come at a cost,” he said.

Wiggins has spent years travelling rural New Zealand, speaking directly with farmers and rural workers about the importance of connection and prevention when times get tough. 

Now, that essential work has received a major boost, and the Trust has been awarded $740,000 from the Government’s Rural Wellbeing Fund, the largest grant allocated in the latest 2026 funding round.

The investment comes as part of a broader $2 million package announced by Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey, to support 18 community-led initiatives focused on improving rural wellbeing.

For Wiggins, the funding is a turning point, not just for his organisation, but for how mental health is approached in rural communities.

“For years, we’ve been doing this on the smell of an oily rag,” he laughed.

“Receiving funding is always such an enormous relief.”

The essential grant money will be delivered over the course of four years, and Wiggins hopes it will reach the rural’s most vulnerable.

“We want to train rural people to look after other rural people,” he said. 

Whatever With Wiggy, which is also behind the highly regarded ‘Lean on a gate, talk to a mate’ programme, will offer rural professionals training on what to look for, how to offer help, and how to access support in crisis.

Together with MATES in Construction, ‘Lean on a Gate’ is designed to extend MATES' suicide prevention programme to rural New Zealand, addressing high rates of isolation and mental health issues in the farming sector.

The initiative offers community awareness training, individual training for volunteers, and a 24/7 helpline, equipping rural professionals in Mid Canterbury and across New Zealand with the tools to recognise when someone may be struggling.

Rather than relying solely on external services, the programme embeds mental health awareness within everyday rural interactions.

“The reality is, the people best placed to notice when something’s not right are already out there, they’re your stock agents, your vets, your agronomists. They are the people who already have those trusted relationships with farmers,” Wiggins explained.

“You don’t have a professional relationship in rural New Zealand unless you’ve got a personal one,” he said.

“So if someone’s not trucking too well, it’s often those people they already know who they’ll open up to first.”

The Trust’s training programme has been rolled out over the past year, beginning in Mid Canterbury, and supported by partnerships with industry groups and community organisations. 

It includes introductory awareness sessions, as well as more in-depth training that prepares participants to act as “safe connectors”, people who can step in, start conversations, and connect others with the help they need.

“This is about getting intervention away from the bottom of the cliff and into the farm gate,” Wiggins said. 

“It’s about having those conversations earlier, when they can really make a difference.”

A key component of the programme is its community-wide approach. By training people across different businesses and sectors, the initiative creates a network of support that extends beyond individual workplaces.

“We’re seeing a real cross-pollination of support,” Wiggins told the Guardian.

“It’s not just one business, it becomes a whole community that knows how to look out for each other.”

The new funding will allow the Trust to significantly expand its reach over the next four years, and Whatever With Wiggy has also secured a matched funding model, encouraging further investment from rural businesses and organisations, which will then be matched by the New Zealand Government.

For Wiggins, the ultimate goal is simple: to ensure that no one in rural New Zealand feels they have to face challenges alone.

“You never know what’s around the corner,” he said. “It might be financial pressure, it might be health issues, it might be something happening at home. Nobody’s immune to it.”

In the face of rising costs and ongoing uncertainty, maintaining connection is more important than ever.

“If you can take five minutes, just five minutes, to check in with someone, have a cup of tea, ask how they’re going. That can make a huge difference,” Wiggins said. 

“Sometimes, it can save a life.”