Janey Antoniou Campaigner of the Year Award 2025
Nominations for the Janey Antoniou Campaigner of the Year Award are now open!
Do you know a fantastic mental health campaigner that deserves recognition?
If so, nominate them today for our annual Janey Antoniou Campaigner of the Year Award, which recognises those who have campaigned to improve the lives of people severely affected by mental illness.
This award continues the legacy of Janey Antoniou, a passionate campaigner who educated people on the realities of living with mental illness. To honour Janey, each year we award three amazing individuals who have made an impact through their campaigning.
Thanks to a generous gift from Janey’s family, the winner receives £1,000 and two runners-up receive £100 each. You can nominate yourself for the award, but you will need someone that can support your nomination.
Types of campaigning could include:
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Challenging the myths and stigma associated with mental illnesses.
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Raising awareness of mental illness in racialised communities.
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Lobbying MPs or local decision makers to change policy.
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Campaigning locally to improve mental health services.
The nominee doesn’t have to be a Rethink Mental Illness campaigner, but they must be someone living with mental illness who has campaigned on mental health.
Now is your chance to make sure they are recognised for their passion, hard work and determination.
To enter, please complete this form by 11:59pm on 31 August 2025.
Previous winners
2024 Steve Whittle
Steve founded Tough to Talk, a charity which aims to reduce male suicide. He campaigns in male-centric environments, facilitates educational outreach initiatives and has produced empowering resources which encourage open conversations about male mental health.
2023 Danny Bowman
Danny’s campaigning started in 2013 months after his recovery from body dysmorphic disorder. He recognised the need to speak out about the disorder and the unique experiences of men with body image issues.
Meet our 2023 Janey Antoniou Award Winners Meet our 2023 Janey Antoniou Award Winners
2022 António Ferreira
António is mental health activist, campaigner, public speaker, and expert by experience. He campaigns for anti-racism within the mental health sector, and wants to shift the way the public views and addresses mental ill health within racialised communities.
2021 Nkasi Stoll
Nkasi was highly commended for her amazing work in setting up Black Students Talk to support Black students with their mental health at university as well as writing a book on her mental illness journey and her discussions about the interplay between race, racism, identity, intersectionality and mental health inequality.
2019 Sue Wheatcroft
Sue is a campaigner and group coordinator who lives with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). She has made a huge difference on both a local and national level, and has set up a BPD support group.
2018 Joy Hibbins
A tireless and inspirational campaigner, Joy is the Founder and CEO of the charity Suicide Crisis and the driving force behind achieving the charity’s nation-wide recognition.
2017 Matthew Axbey
Matthew realised he had depression during his first time during university - but from there he took that experience and started Nightline Canterbury, a dedicated helpline for the students experiencing a mental health problem.
2016 Tamanna Miah
As a young Asian girl Tamanna Miah found it difficult to open up about her mental health. Rather than be silenced by the shame, Tamanna used her experience and began campaigning for young people's mental health.
2015 Steven Gilbert
Steven first recognised he was having mental health difficulties in his teens. Steven has taken his experiences to engage engage with the young African and Caribbean men in their local community.
2014 Chris Lynch
Chris, works tirelessly as a mental health campaigner and is a service-user representative for many organisations, including the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Chris aruns two of our local peer support groups.
2013 Jonny Benjamin
Jonny Benjamin was our very first award winner. His account of living with schizoaffective disorder helped launch him as an international campaigner. His personal account of living with mental illness was turned into the film ‘Finding Mike’.