Real voices of local experts bringing real change to people across the UK

A national charity that supports people with complex mental health needs is today showcasing the experiences and voices of its staff and service users to mark World Mental Health Day 2026.

Cheryl Nyabezi and Bernie Brunt work at St Andrew’s Healthcare in Birmingham and Jack is a service user at the charity’s Essex Hospital.

The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day is Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change. 

Cheryl, Bernie and Jack all work on the Experts by Experience project at the hospital where those with who have been directly impacted by mental health, work with patients to support and improve care.

“This World Mental Health Day we are proud to highlight the real difference people like Bernie make to the care we deliver to our patients.” said Cheryl, who is the Clinical Inequalities Lead at the Birmingham hospital. “Every day, through our Experts by Experience work we aim to improve access, communication and support.”

“It shows the real difference real voices make to real change and ultimately it means we are seeing real meaningful improvements in care.” she said.

Bernie Brunt, who was born in the city, worked around the world in a high-profile industry in high pressure environments before experiencing life changing mental health symptoms which led him into the care of St Andrew’s.

His courageous journey of recovery means that today he is now employed by the charity to work alongside patients and staff to ensure his lived experience is a catalyst for real change for others.

“I was someone who suffered severe life limiting mental health symptoms that left me feeling like I had no purpose in life.” said Bernie. “Now I am able to look at that experience to say St. Andrew’s was the opportunity I needed.”

“Those awful experiences I had now enable me to work with patients and staff because we are all in a position where if things go wrong or we don’t have support in place we can end up in some really dark places.”

World Mental Health Day is held every year. It raises awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizes efforts in support of mental health.

The day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

Jack, who recently became a new father of twins, uses his experience of being a patient at St. Andrew’s Healthcare Essex to support others receiving care.

“There is no doubt that St. Andrew’s saved me life.” Jack said. “The staff here at Essex are amazing and as someone who has benefited from that I wanted to use what I have learnt to help other people when they are at their most vulnerable.”

“That can range from being with them as they learn new skills such as healthy eating, gardening or using the gym here. I know that what I’ve learnt has given me a reason to live and that’s why my lived experience make a real difference.”

Evidence from the National Library of Medicine  shows that people with lived experience of mental distress and mental health service use (known as Experts by Experience) in mental health education have demonstrated positive outcomes and attitudinal change in students.

Studies cited by the NLM show that participants described the impact of Experts by Experience in mental health education as positively influencing the participants themselves, the Experts by Experience, their colleagues, and the broader organisational culture.

As well as sharing their stories with colleagues at St. Andrew’s Healthcare, videos of Cheryl and Bernie and Jack’s written story will be used across social media channels and in nursing publications to show how their lived experiences are being heard and that the hospital is putting their real voices at the heart of real change.

“Experts by Experience is influencing real change this World Mental Health Day and that is what gets me up in the morning to do my job.” Cheryl said. “I am immensely proud of the work of my team and to see it making a real difference to people’s lives is why I am here.”

“When I was at my most unwell, I just wanted to hear from someone that had been that ill and who could encourage me that I could get through it.” Bernie said. “People tell me that being a real voice to patients at St. Andrew’s brings them hope and gives them the experience to know that if I can get better then so can they.”

Find out more here.