Solent Mind recently attended the Local Minds Excellence Awards ceremony, run by National Mind in Birmingham, to receive an award in recognition of having the ‘Most Effective Services’.  

The awards were open to all 100 Minds across England and Wales and the categories encompassed the 20 standards of the Mind Quality Mark assessment process.    

The judges identified that our services displayed all five hallmarks of excellence, namely expertise, courage, vision, creativity and commitment in their winning category and said that the organisation was “a real example of breaking down barriers and an inclusive and unafraid culture.”  

Sally Arscott, CEO at Solent Mind, said: “I was absolutely thrilled to collect the award on behalf of our service areas and I’m so proud of all your achievements. This success is clearly a testament to the hard work, passion and commitment of everyone in our organisation.

" I want to congratulate all staff involved and particularly those peer support workers who work closely with our service users. Together we’ve managed to develop a team of people who are brilliant and empathetic and are able to build trust with people who aren’t necessarily able to trust other services.” 

This award highlights the good work achieved by Solent Mind peer support workers working across Hampshire, who with their background of lived experience and specialist training, work alongside the individuals in the community to support them in the best possible way to deliver excellent person-centred care.

Solent Mind now has peer support workers throughout the primary care network in Hampshire, they are embedded in all community mental health teams, including GP surgeries and Solent Mind’s crisis services.

Tracey Marsh, Solent Mind’s Crisis Peer Support Service Manager, added: “It’s lovely for our services to be recognised in this award. We believe that lived experience is so important. A lot of people, especially when they are struggling, feel that people don't understand them, or they are not valued. 

"Whereas, by having people who have been on that journey themselves, who they can share their feelings with, our peers can say 'do you know what? I've actually been there in a similar situation to you, I know how hard it is, but I got through it.' I believe by role modelling hope, we actually safe lives." 

To mark the occasion, all staff have been invited to a special ‘Festival of Wellbeing’ where teams celebrated the news together in their own ways, from tea and cake at a café, to crazy golf and even a visit a local wildlife centre. 

How are you feeling? If you feel in need of mental health support, you can find out more about the support we offer here.