A community activist from Birmingham has been given an award by the national charity Rethink Mental Illness for his work to improve attitudes to mental health. Steven Gilbert, has been awarded winner of the Janey Antoniou award for his passion and commitment to improving the lives of people living with mental illness.
Steven said, “My mental health difficulties began in my late teens and continued with bouts of depression during my post-graduates studies until I was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder and PTSD. I have personal experience of the problems associated with accessing treatment and the wide variability of care within the system. I feel blessed to have achieved a level of recovery and I believe it is important to speak openly about my experiences of mental illness.”
The Janey Antoniou award, set up by Rethink Mental Illness, is named after a well-known mental-health campaigner and researcher who died in 2010. The award was presented by Janey’s family to Steven along with a prize of £1000 at Rethink Mental Illness National Members Day.
Steven was recognised for his efforts to speak out and highlight mental health issues among young African Caribbean men and his involvement in the Time to Change to Change project, 300 Voices, aimed at improving outcomes for young African Caribbean men with mental illness.
“I’m honoured to have been chosen as winner of the Janey Antoniou award and will use this as an opportunity to share my reality of living with a mental illness, the good and the bad, to fight for parity of esteem and reduce stigma”.
Steven has also recently been appointed to the West Midlands Mental Health Commission working alongside, Norman Lamb and Geraldine Strathdee, to assess the scale of the impact of poor mental health on the lives of people living in the region.
