Photos

A photo of me outside No.10 Downing Street. I chaired a roundtable event as part of the Mental Health Act review, focused addressing the poor experiences and outcomes experienced by black African & Caribbean people.

This photo represents over a year of incredible work by the Rt. Hon Norman Lamb, me and so many others. An incredible honour to work with him.

The main men of the West Midlands Mental Health Commission. I feel privileged to have worked with these incredible individuals. Rt.Hon Norman Lamb MP dedicated an incredible amount of time leading the work. Steve Appleton did an amazing job driving the work forwards. Sean Russell led the regional steering group and got local buy-in.

NB- there were also incredible women working on the review! Geraldine Strathdee, Sarah Norman, Dame Carol Black to name but a few.

I was awarded the 2015 Janey Antoniou award, from Rethink Mental Illness, which recognises individuals who have worked to raise awareness of mental illness, and to improve how people with mental illness are treated in the UK.

Steve was a finalist for the 2016 Royal College of Psychiatrist Service User of the Year. He met at least two of the following criteria:

a) Has made a positive impact at a local and/or national level to improve mental health services; b) Has improved the perception of mental health issues and/or mental health services; c) Has encouraged change in the development of mental health policy; d) Has been an accessible role model to mental health service professionals, other service users/patients and/or carers; e) Has contributed to the recruitment and/or training of psychiatrists and/or other mental health service professionals.

May 2018

It was definitely worth battling the fatigue and constant nausea to meet with @BBCWorldatOne @Sarah_Montague to discuss the #MHAreview. A pleasure to work with @Project_Deb & Kate King.

Interview with BBC West Midlands Today (date) regarding suicide prevention and mens mental health

My first international speaking event was at the 2017 World Congress of Psychiatry in Berlin. I was able to share my perspectives on peer support in BME (Black and Minority Ethnics) communities. I always start with some audience participation.

I was honoured to speak at the Bridge Mental Health 30th anniversary event. I was able to share my experiences of what works in achieving mental wellbeing. Click here to view my speech.

Speaking in 2016 as part of the West Midlands Combined Authority Mental Health Commission keynote session. I will always be proud to have been part of the commission and the groundwork we laid for the Thrive West Midlands programme.

As part of the Mental Health Act review I was asked to chair a session for the Royal of College of Psychiatrists International Congress International Congress. The session titled: Mental Health Law Reform in the UK looked at mental health law in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Four great speakers and brilliant questions from the audience.

The media have a huge role to play in how we understand mental illness. I was privileged to spend an afternoon with university students discussing this topic, ways in which the media have gotten it wrong and what the media can do to portray accurate depictions of mental illness.

January 2014 was the first mental health focused event I ever took part in. It was the launch of the Time to Change, 300 Voices programme and I handed out delegate packs. I was so excited to be involved, hence the huge smile on my face.

My volunteering with Time to Change (TTC) took me to lots of interesting places. One of the most interesting campaigns was the Time to Talk event, where TTC champions attended comedy events and used the Social Contact Model to talk with members of the public about mental health. Comedy was a great way to approach the subject of stigma and provide information to people.

My early work in mental health was with Time to Change. I did a range of anti-stigma work including using the Social Contact Model, where we went to public locations and spoke directly to members of the public about mental health.

I was so proud to have been featured in the Speak Out magazine.

This was taking in mid-2014 and the message was a true then as it is today. We all need a Cathy.

I was fortunate to assist the Mind Media Advisory team when they held a session with the producers of BBC Doctors. As a TV programme it is on daily and it is important that the messages they send out about mental health and mental illness are factually correct.

I have been proud to be the Service User Representative for the Royal College of Psychiatry West Midlands Executive Division. I have held the role since the summer of 2014 and have learnt so much from meeting with psychiatrists in my region. They have been supportive of me and the work that I do.

Behind the scenes photo of shooting for a collection of short videos I created with Helen Garnham (@HSGarnham ), Public Heath England (@PHE_uk). The focus of the videos was to highlight the importance of involving suicide attempt survivors in suicide prevention planning, and to encourage local suicide prevention leads to do just that.