The judging for the 2015 Awards was initially undertaken by a panel of ten service user judges before the winners were picked by a judging panel made up of Ian Callaghan (National Service User Lead – Recovery and Outcomes), Rosie Ayub (Patient and Public Partnerships Account Manager, NHS England), Anne Beales (Director of Service User Involvement, Together for Mental Wellbeing) and Mary-Ann Doyle (Programme Director Specialised Mental Health, NHS England). Each member of the juding panel attended the event and presented an award to the winner of each category.
As well as the five main categories a new addition to this year’s event was a ‘Service User Choice Award’. This was voted for live on the day, the selection being made up of the runners-up from each category. The ‘Service User Choice Award’ was presented by guest judge Olivia Butterworth (Head of Public Voice, NHS England).
All of the finalists had inspirational stories to tell but the overall winners for each category were as follows:
Community, Social and Vocational Initiative
Thornford Park Service User led Enterprise, Priory Group
Innovations in My Shared Pathway
‘Getting on with People’ Card Game, Adult Forensic Service, Edenfield Centre Medium Secure Unit, Greater Manchester West NHS Foundation Trust
Reducing Stigma / Tackling Discrimination
Change UR Mind, Youth Focus: North East
Physical Health and Wellbeing
Recovery Murals Project, St Andrews Birmingham
Outstanding Service user Achievement Award
Ravenswood Recovery Steering Group, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
Service User Choice Award
Joint Winners:
Wyvern Ward Social Enterprise Charity Group, Cygnet Hospital Derby
“Taking Back My Life”, Service User from Cygnet Hospital Bierley
In between each award presentation attendees were entertained by some beautiful musical performances from service users from Cygnet Hospital Ealing, St Andrews Birmingham, The Spinney and Cygnet Hospital Bierley. Service users from the Ashworth High Secure Hospital were represented by recordings from their Musicians in Residence Group and an amazing display of some of their work in the exhibition area.
Congratulations to the winners and all the finalists for helping make it such a special day. A huge thank you also to the Service User Events Team for planning such a successful event and to our comperes who hosted the day in style!