20 October 2021

World Mental Health Day took place on 10th October, which gave us the chance to explore some of the impactful work being done across our partnership to highlight the importance of mental health and improve the care of every patient, mind and body.

This year the theme of World Mental Health Day was ‘Mental health in an unequal world’. From the excellent work of our staff and volunteers to our Mind & Body programme and our Mind & Body Champions, we are constantly striving to offer better mental care for all our patients, no matter their background.

Read below to find out how World Mental Health Day was celebrated across our partnership and beyond:

  • King’s College London is proud of its work to support their students’ mental health and wants to ensure colleagues have access to tools and support networks to protect their own mental health. In a recent article, Head of Student Wellbeing and Welfare, Bonnie Amato Southcott, and Director of Organisational Development, Lorraine Kelly, shared some information on how they are working to support the mental health of both students and staff.
  • South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, with support from Maudsley Charity, launched a photography exhibition to reveal how staff and volunteers working in mental health have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibition – COVID-19 – Life Through a Lens, celebrates the compassion, dedication and determination shown by our staff and volunteers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust held a virtual conference on 8th October which included speakers from a range of backgrounds who shared their own experiences and the work they do to help improve mental health in their local communities. They also held a number of meditation sessions hosted by their 'Showing we care about you' health and wellbeing programme.
  • King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust held a virtual “Lunch and Learn” on 11th October, hosted by Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist Dr Isabel McMullen. The session included five short talks from clinicians and staff from across the Trust speaking about mental health inequality they have encountered in their areas and specialities, efforts they and their teams have made to address this, and their thoughts on what is needed to enact positive, sustainable change.
  • Maudsley Charity held a ‘5k in a Day’ sponsored virtual walking event to help raise money for the charity’s ‘Change the Story’ campaign. The campaign aims to prevent and treat mental health problems in childhood or later life by supporting clinical and research work.