The fifth annual National Service User Awards took place on Wednesday 19th April at Old Trafford stadium, Manchester. The event was attended by nearly 200 service users and staff from NHS and independent mental health providers from all over the country. The award for ‘Unlabelled’ was collected by Ian, one of the service users involved in the project. He was presented the award by Wayne Saville, Expert by Experience and head of the service user judging panel.
The Awards are designed to recognise the achievements of service users in inpatient mental health services and to celebrate the many wonderful service user led initiatives that are implemented nationwide. One of the driving forces behind the National Service User Awards is an events team made up of service users representing different inpatient services, including representatives from several Cygnet hospitals.
“It was very enjoyable making the video and taking part in the filming. It was wonderful receiving the award. I felt overwhelmed by the experience. We still need to deal with stigma around mental health in a positive way in the community.”Ian, winner of National Service User Award
The basic concept for the ‘Unlabelled’ video arose in a workshop in September 2015 when service users at Cygnet Hospital Stevenage were brainstorming ideas for a group project. Geese Theatre, along with Reel to Reel, were invited to help support the production and joined the team at Stevenage for a week of filming. In addition to brainstorming ideas for the film and portraying the fictional characters the service users were also taught how to use the camera, sound boom and clicker board so they could film all of it themselves.
The resulting film is an unflinching portrayal of the kind of discrimination and bullying that individuals with mental health issues experience. Called ‘Unlabelled’ the aim of the film is to try and help break down the stigma surrounding mental health.
Cygnet Hospital Stevenage Unlabelled from Cygnet Health Care on Vimeo.
In addition to the winning entry from Cygnet Hospital Stevenage, Cygnet Hospitals Bierley, Bury, Derby and Kewstoke also had nominations in the final so we’d like to say a big well done to them and congratulations to all the other winners and finalists on their fantastic achievements.