Nominations are now open for the first Thrive Mental Health Commission Awards, taking place in the New Year.

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. Nominations are invited from across the West Midlands and each constituent and non-constituent local authority area will be represented on the shortlists.

Members of the public are invited to nominate anyone they feel has made a difference to someone’s mental wellbeing. It could be a 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 urged to find out more and nominate someone for a Mental Health Star award online at the WMCA website. Chair of the WMCA Wellbeing Board, Cllr Bob Sleigh, said the aim was to create a platform to share ideas and good practice as well as rewarding work by groups and individuals. He said:

“We have seen some wonderful work in line with the priorities set out in our Thrive West Midlands Action Plan and the awards will be a way to reward those efforts. The THRIVE Mental Health Commission Awards will shine a light on the work and encourage more people to share ideas and innovation.”

Thrive WM implementation director, Sean Russell, added:

“In the West Midlands we are committed to helping people achieve their full potential and by supporting those individuals living with poor mental health we want to celebrate the groundbreaking work being done.

“We want to celebrate the amazing people across the West Midlands who are making a real difference to mental health, whether it’s the friend that helped you through a difficult period, the GP who always takes the time to talk, or the volunteer who gives up their evenings to provide support to vulnerable people in their community.”

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. 

Nominations close at 9:00 on Monday 18th December. Shortlisted nominees will be invited to an awards ceremony on 31st January 2018 at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich Albion Football Club. 

For more information about the awards, or to nominate someone you feel deserves to be rewarded, you can visit the WMCA website.