Nominations for the Thrive Mental Health Commission Awards will stay open until after Christmas, organisers have announced.

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) announced the awards scheme on World Mental Health Day as a way to mark the first 12 months of the Thrive West Midlands action plan. Sean Russell, Thrive implementation director, said:

“It’s been a great response so far with nearly a hundred nominations already. We don’t want anyone to miss out so we’ve decided to extend the deadline until after Christmas.”

Nominations will now close at 0900 on Monday 8th January 2018. Shortlisted nominees will be invited to an awards ceremony on 31st January 2018 at The Hawthorns Stadium, home of West Bromwich Albion Football Club.

The presentation evening, on Wednesday 31st January, will be an opportunity to mark the first twelve months’ work by the Thrive West Midlands programme to improve mental health and wellbeing in the region.

Members of the public are invited to nominate anyone they feel has made a difference to someone’s mental wellbeing. Nominations are invited from across the WMCA region and each constituent and non-constituent local authority area will be represented on the shortlists.

It could be friend, family, work colleague, carer or health professional, an individual or someone representing a group or company and their contribution may have been made in a personal or professional situation.

People are invited to find out more and nominate someone for a Mental Health Star award online at the WMCA website.

Each authority’s wellbeing board will make a shortlist from all the nominations in their area – so a Mental Health Star award will go to one person from each locality – and there will be one overall Mental Health Superstar award.