Ambassadors and high-profile supporters

Sathnam Sanghera

Sathnam Sanghera is an award-winning writer and journalist. In his powerful memoir, The Boy With The Topknot, Sathnam wrote about his family's experience of mental illness. It was adapted by BBC Drama in 2017 and named Mind Book of the Year in 2009. His third book, Empireland, became an instant Sunday Times bestseller when it was released in 2021. He comes from Wolverhampton.

Russell Kane

Russell Kane is one of the UK's biggest comedians, entertaining sell-out crowds across the country and bringing a stellar line-up to Rethink Mental Illness' annual comedy fundraising gig. He has two chart-topping, award-winning podcasts: Man Baggage and BBC Radio 4’s Evil Genius, and is a regular on prime time shows on Channel 4, BBC, and ITV.

Bryony Gordon

Bryony Gordon is a Journalist and author. She is a columnist at The Daily Telegraph, and author of a number of best-selling books. This includes No Such Thing As Normal, a guide to all things mental health that Rethink Mental Illness was proud to contribute to. She is the creator of the Mad World podcast, where she has interviewed well known people including HRH Prince Harry, Frank Bruno and Fearne Cotton about their mental health. Bryony also founded Mental Health Mates, a national initiative where people can meet, walk and talk. Bryony has run the London Marathon twice in order to campaign and raise awareness about two issues close to her heart – mental health and positive body image.

Alastair Campbell

Alastair Campbell is a writer, communicator and strategist best known for his role as Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. He has written multiple books with his latest work, Living Better: How I learned to survive depression, a Sunday Times best-seller. Most recently, his podcast with Rory Stewart, The Rest is Politics, has often topped the charts. He has written and presented on the subject of mental health, winning considerable praise from mental health charities and campaign groups. Alastair has made a number of documentaries on mental health including a film on depression which was broadcast by the BBC in May 2019.

Dr Dean Burnett

Dean Burnett is a doctor of neuroscience, graduating from the Cardiff University School of Psychology with a PhD in Behavioural neuroscience in 2009, soon after which he became the course tutor and lecturer for Cardiff University’s ground-breaking online MSc in Psychiatry, where he spent nearly 7 years teaching medics and psychologists from all over the world about all facets of mental health, including the associated treatments and their underlying science. However, Dean also lived something of a parallel life in comedy while all this was going on. He started performing stand up comedy in 2003, a hobby he still indulges in to this day, but this unique blend of neuroscience and humour led to him taking up blogging and writing humorous science articles. He eventually became part of the Guardian science network, and wrote their most popular blog ‘Brain Flapping’ for 6 whole years. This led to further work in the media and publishing. He is the author of the bestselling book ‘The Idiot Brain’ and it’s similarly popular follow up ‘The Happy Brain’, with more on the way. Dean is now a full-time author and contributor, and is increasingly in-demand by radio, TV and written media as someone who can offer clear, understandable, but impressively thoughtful and insightful explanations about all aspects of mental health.

Juliette Burton

As a comedian, Juliette has had total sold out runs at Edinburgh Fringe Festival across several years and toured internationally to sold out crowds. She’s presented and appeared on The One Show (BBC One), This Morning (ITV) and more. As a writer, Juliette has contributed to Cosmopolitan and BBC News. She has a long history of mental health conditions and has been diagnosed with anorexia, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, bulimia, compulsive overeating disorder, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. She was sectioned under the Mental Health Act aged 17. She continues on an ongoing journey of recovery, is still in therapy and manages her mental health one day at a time.

Rachel Kelly

Rachel Kelly is a bestselling writer, public speaker and mental health campaigner. She writes regularly for the press and gives TV and radio interviews to help educate and break down the stigma around mental illness in her role as an ambassador for several mental health charities. She also shares evidence-based strategies on how to stay calm and well and is the author of four books covering her experience of depression and recovery and her steps to wellbeing from poetry to nutrition. Her books include her memoir, Black Rainbow, which covers her experience of depression and recovery. Her most recent book, You'll Never Walk Alone, was published in 2022 and highlights the healing powers of poetry.

Neil Laybourn

Neil is an award-winning mental health campaigner. Neil’s career began in the fitness industry, then ten years ago he walked past Jonny Benjamin on Waterloo Bridge, who was contemplating taking his own life. Neil stopped to talk to him and persuaded him to take a step back. The pair went their separate ways and six years later they were reunited through the #FindMike campaign, which became a global news campaign reaching over 300 million people, and was later captured in the Channel 4 documentary The Stranger On The Bridge. Since then the pair have helped organisations across the world eradicate the stigma of mental health and offer real support to people facing challenges. Neil is an ambassador for Rethink Mental Illness and Mental Health UK; and co-founder of This Can Happen, and the charity Beyond Shame Beyond Stigma. Neil was given a Pride of Britain Award and has an Honorary Doctorate by Bristol University for work in mental health campaigning and advocacy.