Celebrating our colleagues at this year's Values Awards - Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

240 colleagues united for a very special annual awards ceremony to shine a light on and celebrate the successes, hard work and achievements of our colleagues on Friday 21 June.

The Values Awards ceremony was hosted by Chief Executive, Roísìn Fallon-Williams and Chair, Phil Gayle.

The eagerly anticipated Awards saw colleagues and teams recognised for their inclusive, committed, and compassionate work.

Held at the grounds of Aston Villa Football Club’s Holte Suite, the evening was a welcome pause to stop and reflect on the incredible work that has been achieved over the last 12 months.

After deliberating over 343 nominations, 30 colleagues and teams were shortlisted for gold, silver and bronze awards.

There were 10 award categories in total this year, including:

Compassionate Award – for an individual who continually demonstrates the Trust Values of Compassionate in everything they do at work, always listening and considering others.
Inclusive Award – for an individual who continually demonstrates the Trust Values of Inclusive, always including and considering others.
Committed Award – for an individual who continually demonstrates the Trust Values of Committed, someone who is fully committed to every element of their role, always motivating others.
Team of the Year Clinical Services Award – this award recognised a clinical team that has shown how excellent multidisciplinary working is improving the quality of care and experience for service users.
Team of the Year Support Services Award – this award went to a non-clinical team that has shown commitment to improving the work environment for their staff and/or the quality of care for service users.
Service User and Carer Choice Award – for an individual member of staff, or a team, that has made an outstanding contribution to the care and recovery of service users.
Quality Improvement, Research and Innovation Award – for an individual who uses research and innovation in every element of their role to bring about service improvement for service users/colleagues.
Lifetime Achievement Award – for an outstanding and inspirational individual who has dedicated many years of their life to service users and patients, whether that’s as part of Team BSMHFT or to the wider NHS.
Caring Minds Charity Champion – for an individual who has supported and promoted the charity, inspiring colleagues to get involved and going the extra mile.
Rising Star Award – for an individual who continues to innovate, develop and grow within their role to improve their service/team and the care of service users.

One of the night’s gold winners, was Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Fez Sookia who was nominated for the Committed Award. After working at BSMHFT for 40 years and the NHS for over 50, Fez was nominated for the incredible support he has demonstrated to not only service users, but their loved ones and staff members too. After having a career that spans over five decades, Fez said:

“I have always thought that being compassionate is about being treated how you would like to be treated, how you would like your parents to be treated.”

Another staff superstar who impressed the judges was gold winner Annika Sidhu. A Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner, Annika won the Rising Star award after joining the Trust’s North Community Mental Health Hub as a trainee just 18 months ago. Annika has reinstated therapeutic support groups that had not been provided for many years and she also facilitated a women’s group and relaxation/ mindfulness group to aid recovery. She said:

“My job allows me to make a real difference to people’s lives.”

The evening was full of cheers and smiles as one by one the winners were awarded their trophies and certificates. After the 30 nominees were revealed, Chief Executive Roísìn Fallon-Williams concluded the evening by thanking the entire BSMHFT workforce that remain dedicated to supporting the mental wellbeing of Birmingham and Solihull residents.