It was an Honour...

In 2011, to have participated in anti-stigma, anti-discrimination Mental Health training for the Prison Visitor staff of PACT - Prison Advice and Care Trust, in Vauxhall

AND

The following is a copy of what the London Regional Committee have put forward for My 2011 Pringle Award nomination: 
 
Yvonne, who has been a user of mental health services for 18 years, works full-time in Lambeth with mental health service users with complex needs. Yvonne is both a positive role-model for the people with whom she works and a powerful ambassador for Rethink Mental Illness 
 
Yvonne is always willing to help Rethink push for change and combat discrimination in any way that she can.  She is a very committed campaigner - ready to share her own experiences so that the lives of other people affected by mental illness can be improved.
She appeared in videos for Time to Change as part of the 2011 'Let's Talk' campaign, making an eloquent case for why speaking openly about mental health is important and valuable. Including an interview with Yvonne which has been viewed by over 600 people on You Tube, and over 150 people on Facebook have said they 'liked' it, which received  lots of positive comments  showing how warmly it was received:

"Good for you, it's about time people realised just how much of a stigma they are still creating by not wanting to talk about mental illness. When actually it's their ignorance. Thank you for taking the time to do this, I suffer with severe depression and a personality disorder. Good luck xx"
"Yvonne, YOU Diamond well done for highlighting this illness my bestest buddy suffers from this. You keep strong will be tuning in xxxx"
To help encourage more people to speak openly, Yvonne held a web-chat on the issue of starting conversations around mental illness, where she answered lots of questions, leading to Facebook users to share their experiences and thoughts on being open about mental illness. In addition, Yvonne spoke to the media about her experiences helping to generate positive press coverage for the Let's Talk campaign. Yvonne has been a keen supporter of Time to Change since it started, appearing in one of their first talking head videos which has since received over 12,000 views and has help to educate others and resonate with other people affected by mental illness.
 
She played an active role in Rethink's successful campaign to change the Health and Social Care Bill, which strengthened patient and public involvement in the new NHS. A key challenge for the campaign was ensuring politicians understood the barriers to involvement faced by people who experience mental illness and that people really did want to have a say in the new system. Yvonne helped to prove the case that involvement should be a right, lobbying leading Ministers including the Prime Minister, speaking to BBC News and the Today programme, and even putting the Deputy Prime Minister on the spot about the need for patient involvement in the NHS to fully engage marginalized groups. Yvonne played a key role in the campaign, which will now mean that the millions of people affected by mental illness and other health conditions across England will have a greater say in their NHS.
 
Yvonne was a key member of Rethink's Criminal Justice Panel, sharing her ideas and views with the Department of Health on their plans for improving the way that the criminal justice system responds to people with mental illness, and has recently advised on RAIS' booklet offering advice to families whose loved ones come into contact with the criminal justice system. This September she will be taking part in one to one meetings at Liberal Democrat Party conference, helping to explain the reality of how Government plans really affect people.
 
Say the Campaign team "Yvonne is a real inspiration, a passionate campaigner and a delight to work with and we cannot thank her enough for everything she has done for Rethink".
 
Campaigning is often difficult, uphill work. Thanks to those who are as dedicated and hard-working as Yvonne,  Rethink's campaigns on Time to Change, Criminal Justice and the Health and Social Care Bill have achieved notable success - and will change countless people's lives, in so many different ways.