Katie Buckingham (pictured), founder of social enterprise Altruist, inspired others as she delivered a talk on ‘Understanding Mental Health Issues’ to an audience of 150 listening volunteers. This presentation was one of many workshops which formed the two day annual conference titled ‘Being There’ delivered last week.
Utilising personal experience, Katie began delivering mental health related youth projects from the age of 17 within her local area of Solihull. Since then, Katie has worked with various organisations such as Solihull Council, Young Minds, Time to Change and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Through Altruist, she has now expanded into the corporate world, helping businesses manage mental wellbeing more effectively in the workplace with courses such as Mental Health Training For Managers, Mental Health At Work Training For Employees and more.
It is because of this experience that Katie (now 20) was asked to be a keynote speaker for this event where she helped Samaritans volunteers better understand the needs of callers that may be suffering with mental health problems. The talk included information on what mental health and illness are, awareness of the main mental health issues and how to help someone experiencing a mental health problem. The talk was very well received. Marion, Regional Director of West Midlands Samaritans said, “Many of our volunteers were inspired and motivated by Katie’s presentation. She was impressively knowledgeable on the subject and brought it alive. Her talk raised awareness and improved understanding of what some of our callers may be going through.”
Katie hopes that this will be one of many events that she speaks at to help raise awareness of mental health issues. If you are interested in booking Katie Buckingham to speak at an event then please email us at info@altruistuk.com.