MindOut the Brighton based LGBT mental health project wins BBC award.
MindOut, the mental health charity run by and for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people is the winner of a BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind 25th Anniversary Award beating over seven hundred projects that were nominated for the award. The announcement come hot on the heels of MindOut winning a Golden Handbag Award on Sunday for being Brighton’s Favourite LGBT Voluntary Sector Organisation, by the readers of Gscene magazine.
MindOut was awarded the prize at a ceremony held last Thursday at the Wellcome Collection in London. Judges commended MindOut for going “above and beyond the call of duty”.
Helen Jones, Director of MindOut said: “I am so delighted and very proud. To have our work recognised in this way is very humbling. Our staff and volunteers work tirelessly to provide services to LGB&T people in Brighton and across Sussex and I am thrilled that all their hard work has been recognised in this way. I really hope this award will raise awareness of the mental health needs of all LGB&T people.”
There were three categories in the Awards:
• The Individual Award, which recognises an outstandingly supportive family member, friend, boss or colleague
• The Professional Award, which marks the outstanding dedication of a psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, nurse, therapist or other professional and,
• The Project Award, which acknowledges the achievement of a mental health project or group that has made a big difference to people’s recovery or ability to cope.
The judging panel – chaired by BBC Radio 1 DJ and television presenter Scott Mills also featuring Charles Walker MP, clinical psychologist Guy Holmes, Star Wards founder Marion Janner and All in the Mind presenter Claudia Hammond – was inundated with entries from a wide range of people and backgrounds, but in the end they decided MindOut was most deserving of the Project Award:
Sebastian Sandys nominated MindOut for the award. Sebastian arrived in Brighton after a year-long period of poor mental and physical health. He says that the issues he was facing – the fallout from diagnoses of HIV and Hep C, the side effects of treatment, depression, anxiety and stress – had so scrambled his mind that he had been unable to articulate his needs.
His visit to the MindOut office was the first time ever he felt he was being heard and taken seriously in a safe environment. He became involved in their Allotment Project, claiming that growing carrots beats SSRI’s any day.
He commended the organisation for the speed with which they connected with him when he first got in touch, their understanding that his mental health was not separate from his physical health, and the fact that they provide a service rooted in and drawn from the lived experience of the community it serves.
The other awards went to:
• The Professional Award – Pat at Nilaari
• The Individual Award – Steve
Claudia Hammond said: “The great thing about presenting All in the Mind is listening to people tell their stories, knowing that they’re sharing those stories with so many listeners who relate to them personally. I started listening to Anthony Clare on All in the Mind while I was in the sixth form and never would have guessed that 25 years later I’d be presenting these awards and taking part in the programme which discusses mental health at length in a way we rarely hear elsewhere.
“We were staggered to get so many entries all those months ago. Then to be at a ceremony and see so many people in one room who had gone so far above and beyond their duty, whether as a friend or as a professional, transforming the life of another human being was very moving.
“It was very hard to choose, and for me the finalists represent everyone who has reached out to help someone else. Mental health professionals present at the awards told me that hearing these experiences reminded them that however hard their job might seem sometimes, they went into it for a reason, and that they can make a difference.”
Gwyneth Williams, Controller, Radio 4 added: “The fact that Radio 4 has a much-loved programme dedicated to mental health, psychology and neuroscience – and has done for 25 years – shows how important this area is to our listeners. The stories of kindness, bravery and dedication unearthed by these Awards are truly inspiring.”
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