This Award is particularly apt, given that October is Black History Month.
The Tree of Life in Schools project received the ‘Health Equalities Award’ at the NHS Parliamentary Awards 2024. Dame Meg Hillier, the Member of Parliament for Hackney South and Shoreditch, nominated the programme.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, presented the Award to the team at a ceremony in Westminster on Monday, 14th October.
The NHS Parliamentary Awards launched in 2018 to celebrate outstanding contributions of staff, volunteers and others within the healthcare sector. MPs are tasked with nominating teams in their area, before NHS England’s regions select one nominee in each category to go through to the national shortlist. As such, Tree of Life represented London.
Tree of Life is a psychological intervention developed in South Africa, bringing together groups who have experiences of social suffering, as an alternative to traditional therapy methods. The Hackney model has pioneered the use of this intervention as a peer-led, African and Caribbean specific offer within local secondary schools using a whole school approach.
The project is a great example of partnership work, bringing together the NHS (through Mental Health Support Teams in Schools), the voluntary sector represented by Hackney CVS and local secondary schools. Collectively, all partners make it possible to deliver collaborative, effective and culturally attuned services.
Sessions have been delivered by peer leaders from African, Caribbean and dual heritage backgrounds, trained by Hackney CVS to students from the same backgrounds. The objective of the project has been to provide young people with a space to reframe identity in a positive way and discuss difficult experiences in a safe environment.
The local joint CAMHS Alliance and Emotional Health and Wellbeing Partnership within the local authority have coordinated the programme.
In addition to the NHS Parliamentary Awards, Tree of Life was named Most Impactful Project Addressing Health Inequalities at this year’s Health Service Journal (HSJ) Partnership Awards. Last year it received the Mental Health and Wellbeing Award at the Children & Young People (CYP) Now Awards and the Reducing Healthcare Inequalities Award at the HSJ Awards – considered the ‘Oscars’ of the healthcare sector.
The City & Hackney CAMHS Alliance Programme Manager, Mariona Garcia Edo, said: “We are beyond honoured to be once again recognised by such a prestigious award. We want to thank Dame Meg Hillier for the endorsement and the judging panel for valuing the hard work that our NHS and community colleagues carry out supporting our community on a daily basis.”
Yasmin Tanaye, who is one of Hackney CVS’ youth leaders, added: “I am so happy that the project is being recognised in this way, to have four awards in twelve months really shows that we are doing good work and having genuine impact on the ground.
“I just hope we can keep delivering workshops and changing lives. I am so proud to be part of this amazing team, and I feel honoured to say I am a part of this transformative project".