With the Mental Health Foundation’s National Mental Health Awareness Week 2017 having taken place just days before Design in Mental Health 2017 in Solihull, it was fitting that the guest speakers at this year’s DIMH Awards Dinner were award-winning mental health campaigners, Jonny Benjamin and his friend, Neil Laybourn, the man who persuaded him not to jump from the edge of London’s Waterloo Bridge one wintry January day in 2008 during a severe bout of depression. The Network’s editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports.
The 2017 Design in Mental Health Awards Dinner, held in the Imperial and Trafalgar Suite at the National Motorcycle Museum on 16 May, was attended by around 190 guests. Following drinks, attendees made their way to their tables, where the DIMHN’s chair, Jenny Gill, gave a short welcome speech. After dinner, she re-took the stage to introduce the evening’s guest speakers, Jonny Benjamin and Neil Laybourn, prefacing the powerful story they were about to tell by telling guests: “In 2008 an extremely unwell Jonny Benjamin was ready to leap from Waterloo Bridge, but the intervention of a stranger changed the future. Six years later Jonny launched a Twitter campaign to find the man, Neil Laybourn, and thank him. What followed was a close friendship, a Channel 4 documentary, and two people united in campaigning to raise awareness of mental health issues. This year, Jonny was awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honours List, and Jonny and Neil have since competed in the London Marathon for the Heads Together campaign.”
To the suitably positive strains of ELO’s ‘Mr Blue Sky’, Jonny Benjamin and Neil Laybourn then took to the stage to tell their ‘inspiring and personal story of hope and recovery’. Neil Laybourn recounted how, walking across Waterloo Bridge to work one cold day in January 2008, he saw a young, distressed looking man by the railings near the bridge’s edge, who it appeared was about to jump.
With no experience in such a situation, nor any great understanding of mental health, he nevertheless approached the man, and, during a brief conversation, set about trying to convince him both that life was worth living, and that he would recover. Having made him feel a little calmer and better, he suggested the pair have a coffee together. As they were about to leave, however, a police car pulled up, handcuffed Jonny Benjamin, and took him away before the pair could get properly acquainted. Suffering acutely with depression and schizoaffective disorder, Jonny was then ‘sectioned’, and it was not until six years later – by which time he was faring considerably better – that the two re-met.
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.
Register