Shuranjeet Singh (he/him): Taraki
Shuranjeet Singh is the founder and director of Taraki, a movement working with Punjabi communities to reshape approaches to mental health. Taraki means ‘to progress’ in Punjabi and Shuranjeet the movement in October 2017 after his ongoing experiences of mental health challenges when transitioning from home to being a student. Shuranjeet is currently completing his masters and is interested in ensuring that the mental health landscape is welcoming, responsive and ultimately accountable to those with lived experiences of a range of mental health challenges, especially those living at the intersection of multiple identities which face complex marginalisation in our societies.
Shuranjeet enjoys learning every single day from people he comes into contact with. He also loves football and is an Arsenal fan, which has taught him the importance of patience and resilience more so than the mental health services he has accessed!
Steph de la Haye (she/her): Survivors of Depression in Transition
She is the CEO and founder of the women’s charity SODIT, having 30 + years of using mental health and specialist health services and as a health professional working in pre-Hospital care.
Stephanie is a member of the co-production steering group at Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and lead for the mental health crisis concordat for the VCS sector in Sheffield. Stephanie has been a member of the Care Quality Commission’s mental health improvement board & an Expert by Experience (EbyE) on inspections.
She sat on the Expert Reference Group for Achieving Better Access to Crisis Care Services for Adults, Co-production, Community MH Framework and Quality Improvement, based at the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health/Royal College of Psychiatrists. As well as a peer researcher, trainer and consultant, she is an Advocacy QPM assessor, teaching within Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Sheffield. Most of all, she is passionate and dedicated to improving support of all kinds to people who experience and often live with mental distress.
Ursula Myrie (she/her): Adira
Ursula Myrie is the founder and managing director of Adira, a survivor-led mental health and wellbeing service that supports Black people who have been affected by a variety of different factors, that has or continues to affect their mental health and/or emotional well-being. She is one of the Shirley Oaks Survivors and a public speaker.
Ursula founded Adira in 2012 because she herself is a survivor of mental health issues after experiencing trauma. The organisation was born out of her lived experience as she wanted to create a haven based on mutual understanding. It aims to provide a safe, friendly, culturally-sensitive meeting space, education and training, information and advice, and social & leisure activities.
Chair
Mark Brown (he/him)
Mark Brown is the Development Director of Social Spider and supports, researches and writes about mental health, social innovation and social media from the perspective of someone who has experience of mental health difficulties. He specialises in projects that bring new perspectives and approaches to mental health and the intersection between social innovation and mental health.
Mark originated and edited the national magazine for people with mental health difficulties, One in Four. Mark also delivers social media coverage for mental health events and conferences as part of Beyond the Room as a well-recognised tweeter and writer on mental health and social action. Mark has been supporting NSUN’s development and communications as an Associate for several years.
Mark is a well recognised tweeter and writer on mental health and social action, one of Community Care’s top sixty social care tweeters and is part of the @wenurses team of health tweeters, leading regular mental health themed Twitter chats. His writing on mental health and related topics has appeared in The Guardian, Prospect, the i-paper, New Statesman, Mental Health Today, Shortlist, and more.
NSUN AGM 2020 