Janey Antoniou Campaigner of the Year Award 2026
Do you know someone making a real difference for people severely affected by mental illness?
Nominations are now open for the Janey Antoniou Campaigner of the Year Award.
Janey Antoniou dedicated her life to raising awareness of mental illness through campaigning, research and education. In partnership with her family, we are proud to celebrate campaigners with lived experience who are creating change in their communities and beyond.
The winner will receive £1,000, with two runners-up receiving £100 each. You can nominate someone else or yourself. If you're nominating yourself, you'll need someone to support your nomination.
People living with mental illness and carers are both eligible for nomination, provided they have campaigned in a voluntary capacity.
They may have:
- Raised awareness of mental illness in racialised communities
- Challenged stigma and discrimination
- Campaigned to improve local mental health services.
This is your chance to recognise someone whose passion, determination and commitment are helping to change lives.
To enter, please complete this form by 11:59pm on Sunday 20 September 2026.
Terms and Conditions
Judging
- Entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges selected by Rethink Mental Illness.
- The decision of the judging panel is final.
Prizes
- All winners will receive a trophy.
- The winner will receive £1000, and two runners up will receive £100 each.
- Winners will be notified of their prize and invited to an Awards Ceremony in London on Saturday 14 November. Attendance is optional.
- Prizes are non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for alternatives.
Publication
- Profiles of the winner and runners up will be published on the Rethink Mental Illness website and our membership magazine, Your Voice.
- We may reference the winner and runners up on our social media platforms following the awards and for future promotion.
- Inclusion in publications does not constitute endorsement by Rethink Mental Illness.
Additional Notes and Data Protection
- By submitting a nomination for yourself or someone else, you confirm that the nomination is an original campaign and take full responsibility for any breach of third-party rights.
- The use of AI tools to assist with completing the nomination form is permitted. However, nominations must accurately reflect genuine campaigns and achievements. Entrants remain responsible for the accuracy of the information they submit. We will not accept nominations for campaigns that are wholly or primarily generated using AI.
- Offensive, discriminatory, or plagiarised content will be disqualified.
- We may contact shortlisted entrants for clarification or to request further details (if applicable).
- Please contact campaigns@rethink.org if you require assistance regarding accessibility when completing the nomination form.
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Previous winners
2025 Sophie du Plessis
Sophie campaigns for eating disorder-informed fitness spaces, drawing from her six-year battle with anorexia and depression. She launched the @edinformed campaign and has collaborated with Beat to develop the UK’s first CPD-accredited training for fitness professionals.
2024 Steve Whittle
Steve founded Tough to Talk, a charity which aims to reduce male suicide. He campaigns in male-centric environments, facilitates educational outreach initiatives and has produced empowering resources which encourage open conversations about male mental health.
2023 Danny Bowman
Danny’s campaigning started in 2013 months after his recovery from body dysmorphic disorder. He recognised the need to speak out about the disorder and the unique experiences of men with body image issues.
2022 António Ferreira
António is mental health activist, campaigner, public speaker, and expert by experience. He campaigns for anti-racism within the mental health sector, and wants to shift the way the public views and addresses mental ill health within racialised communities.
2021 Nkasi Stoll
Nkasi was highly commended for her amazing work in setting up Black Students Talk to support Black students with their mental health at university as well as writing a book on her mental illness journey and her discussions about the interplay between race, racism, identity, intersectionality and mental health inequality.
2019 Sue Wheatcroft
Sue is a campaigner and group coordinator who lives with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). She has made a huge difference on both a local and national level, and has set up a BPD support group.
2018 Joy Hibbins
A tireless and inspirational campaigner, Joy is the Founder and CEO of the charity Suicide Crisis and the driving force behind achieving the charity’s nation-wide recognition.
2017 Matthew Axbey
Matthew realised he had depression during his first time during university - but from there he took that experience and started Nightline Canterbury, a dedicated helpline for the students experiencing a mental health problem.
2016 Tamanna Miah
As a young Asian girl Tamanna Miah found it difficult to open up about her mental health. Rather than be silenced by the shame, Tamanna used her experience and began campaigning for young people's mental health.
2015 Steven Gilbert
Steven first recognised he was having mental health difficulties in his teens. Steven has taken his experiences to engage engage with the young African and Caribbean men in their local community.
2014 Chris Lynch
Chris, works tirelessly as a mental health campaigner and is a service-user representative for many organisations, including the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Chris aruns two of our local peer support groups.
2013 Jonny Benjamin
Jonny Benjamin was our very first award winner. His account of living with schizoaffective disorder helped launch him as an international campaigner. His personal account of living with mental illness was turned into the film ‘Finding Mike’.