Shine Lincolnshire are proud to announce that for the second year running we have won a GHP Mental Health Award – Best Mental Health Charity 2024 in the East of England.

The GHP Mental Health Awards programme is a testament to the tireless efforts of individuals and organisations who work hard to build a world that enables good mental health for everyone. From strategic crisis management companies to accredited mental health training providers, GHP recognises industry pioneers and technology innovators who make a significant impact on the dynamic sector.

GHP Awards Coordinator Jack Ford commented: “There is no simple answer to improving mental health, but our winners continue to inspire and empower people to build better mental health and live their best lives.” We couldn’t agree more and remain steadfast in the belief that communities know themselves best and can evolve to support their populations.

Shine Lincolnshire was created in 2011 as the result of an event called ‘Great Expectations’. The event demonstrated the demand for more collaborative working and networking from support services across Lincolnshire, to make the community mental health support network efficient, effective, and accessible to ALL.  Shine has expanded rapidly since CEO Rachel Wright took to the helm in 2021, and at the beginning of this year took strides into setting up new community-based premises in Horncastle, Lincolnshire.

Shine is now established as fundamental to the Mental Health Transformation Programme that has evolved across Lincolnshire. In collaboration with Lincolnshire County Council, Lincolnshire NHS Integrated Care Board and Lincolnshire NHS Partnership Foundation Trust, Shine is a vital funding administrator for the Suicide Prevention Fund and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Community Investment Fund.

What sets Shine apart is its continued burrowing into the communities of Lincolnshire. Shine employ Support and Engagement Coordinators to find, engage and support projects in the smallest and largest towns, villages and hamlets. We manage a network of Community Connectors to link resources together from across the vast county. We manage a team of Peer Support Workers who come from a place of lived experience in mental health and who walk alongside those currently on their own journey. The Senior Management Team sit on a wealth of boards and manage outreach to link in with statutory services across the county, joining up the voices of communities and service providers. With a Training and Development Team, too, we can offer a full cycle of benefits to the community. Through the provision of training courses in physical and mental first aid and suicide first aid, we can re-invest back into the charity and therefore the communities.

Rachel is the driving force behind the eyes and ears that work towards the county being an efficient network of community wellbeing support, and in the words of one employee “she is the organisations own network of support, encouragement, innovation and optimism”.

Find out more about the GHP Mental Health Awards here https://www.ghp-news.com/awards/mental-health-awards/