Project scoops award

AWARD ceremony . . . Jo Yeaman, AHCM chair, David Capper, Kathleen Dixon and Christine Round, from Pennine Care, Bev Whitworth from Streetwise 2000 Young Person’s Service, Emma Nicol, Design for Health, and Sarah Lean, Pennine Care

A MENTAL health project for young people in Oldham has scooped a national award.

The With U In Mind handbook and website project was created by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, which provides mental health services for Oldham people.

It scooped the Best Partnership category in this year’s prestigious Association for Healthcare Communicating and Marketing (ACHM) awards ceremony held in Birmingham.

The pocket handbook and website helps teenagers deal with everyday problems.

It focuses on mental health and wellbeing issues, and contains stories, illustrations and poems written by young people.

Created in partnership with Bury-based charity Streetwise 2000 Young Person’s Service, the project is designed to appeal to a youth audience.

The awards recognise excellence in all forms of communication in, and for, the NHS and health and social care throughout the UK.

The project beat more than 30 entries with judge Mike Cooke, chief executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, praising its comprehensive yet accessible style, its partnership-linked website and the stories.

Pennine Care, whose headquarters are based in Ashton, covers a population of almost 1.2 million throughout the boroughs of Oldham, Bury, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside and Glossop.

Keith Walker, Pennine Care specialist services director, said: “It’s one of those projects where it’s almost impossible to thank everyone.”