Award-winning services

Our services have won recognition for their innovation, effectiveness and success at promoting social inclusion. The following national awards reflect the success of our services for people experiencing severe mental illness and other mental health problems.

The staff are great and really help you get your life back together while encouraging you to take more and more control of your life which is just what I need. I’m doing things now which I never thought I could three or four years ago.

Christine Clarke

Stoke council’s 2009 Long Term Service Provider of the Year Spotlight award: Rethink Stoke Supported Housing

Rethink Stoke Supported Housing service, which operates across Stoke-on-Trent, was judged to be the best service in the “long term service provider” category. The service is a network of 14 properties providing residents with different levels of support according to their needs.

The Spotlight Awards also celebrate the individual achievements of residents within housing services. This year a Rethink Stoke Supported Housing resident, Christine Clarke, won an award for achieving the most independence in the “managing finances” section. Rethink Stoke Supported Housing works to enable people to take control of their lives. Residents are encouraged to examine their own experiences and develop new ways to tackle difficulties.

World Health Organisation best practice award for health in prisons 2007: Rethink’s Swinfen Hall Prison and Young Offenders Institution

The World Health Organisation awarded Swinfen Hall Prison and Young Offenders Institution (YOI) a best practice award for health in prisons. Only 14 of these awards were made across Europe in 2007. Our innovative Healthy Living Centre is a major part of this award-winning healthcare programme at Swinfen Hall. The Healthy Living Centre builds mutual respect and understanding between staff and prisoners and is built into the prison’s reducing re-offending action plan. The raised self-esteem and confidence enables the young offenders to assess how their behaviour affects their health and identify positive changes they can make.

CSIP Positive Practice Awards 2007: Recreational Enterprise Assisting Client Training (REACT) project

The awards target people working in public services who support people of all ages with health and social care needs, including people with mental health problems, physical disabilities and learning disabilities. The REACT project won the award in the category entitled ‘Using football to improve outcomes in health and wellbeing’ in recognition of it being a unique footballing initiative that helps tackle mental health problems through a tailored programme of sport.

The REACT project, based in Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber, is now in its eighth successful year and runs a forty-week basic training programme with a focus on the development of football skills. It has forged successful links with community programmes at a number of the region’s professional football clubs, as well as competing in the World Mental Health football day at David Beckham’s soccer academy in London earlier in 2007.

Children and Young People’s Services Award 2006: Rethink Safe House Youth Groups

These national awards recognise and celebrate the best that is being achieved throughout the UK in work aimed at improving the lives of children and young people. Our Southampton based Safe House Youth Groups project won the Wellbeing Award for making the biggest contribution to improving the mental health of children or young people, or improving services available to them.

The Safe House Youth Groups are a Rethink group which meets three times a week for young people aged 13 to 25 with mental health issues. Through projects such as Safe House, Rethink is helping young people in the crucial two years after a mental health condition becomes apparent. This timely action, hugely increases their chances of leading a good quality of life.

Investing in Volunteering Award 2006: Rethink Northern Ireland

This UK award recognises best practice in employer supported volunteering. Rethink Northern Ireland was given the award for the standards achieved with its volunteer programme. Rethink Northern Ireland devolved into an independent charity, MindWise, in April 2009.

NHS Live Award for Innovation and Improvement 2005: Rotherham Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Service

Image for the commissioner pages of the public website

This award recognises an individual or team that has made a real difference to delivering healthcare by coming up with a new and original idea or concept that has a positive impact on patients, users, carers or staff; that changes the way care is delivered and that can be applied to other services.

The Rotherham Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Service was commended in 2005 as ‘a shining example of fully integrated multi-agency service provision’. The service is delivered in a partnership with Doncaster and South Humber Healthcare NHS Trust and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. Rethink manages the crisis accommodation. The service offers access for people in crisis within two hours of referral and the integrated team has substantially cut down on hospital bed occupancy and has improved the standard of care offered to those admitted.

“I am delighted that REACT has been recognised by CSIP for offering service users valuable motivational and social skills whilst promoting their physical and mental wellbeing.”