Tag Archives: mental health carers

Suicide Prevention Awareness 2026: Remembering Unpaid Mental Health Carers

By Matthew McKenzie – Carer Activist

September is widely recognised as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, with World Suicide Prevention Day taking place on 10 September.

Organised internationally by the International Association for Suicide Prevention and supported by the World Health Organization, the 2026 theme is “Changing the Narrative on Suicide,” with the call to action “Start the Conversation.”

Organisations such as Samaritans, PAPYRUS, Mind, Rethink Mental Illness and members of the National Suicide Prevention Alliance also work to raise awareness, challenge stigma and improve suicide prevention across the UK.

For this year’s campaign, I have produced a new awareness vlog focusing not only on people experiencing suicidal thoughts, but also on the unpaid mental health carers supporting them.

Relatives, partners and friends may spend long periods watching for warning signs, attending appointments and responding to crises. They can carry an enormous level of fear and responsibility, yet their own emotional needs are frequently overlooked.

Carers should never be expected to manage suicide risk alone. Professionals must listen to their concerns, involve them appropriately and ensure they can access support themselves.

In my new vlog, I discuss how we can challenge stigma, start compassionate conversations, listen without judgement and remember to check in with the person providing care as well as the person in crisis.

If you or someone you know needs urgent mental health support in England, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option. Samaritans can be contacted free, day or night, on 116 123. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999 or go to A&E.

Together, we can move from silence to conversation, from stigma to compassion, and from carers coping alone to communities sharing responsibility.

South West London Mental Health Carers Forum – August 2026 Update

By Matthew McKenzie, Co-Facilitator – South West London Mental Health Carers Forum

The South West London Mental Health Carers Forum met again during August 2026, bringing together unpaid carers to share experiences, discuss how the forum is developing and look at ways we can strengthen the voice of carers across South West London.

The forum continues to be a peer-led space shaped by carers themselves. An important message from the August meeting was that this is a group for carers, run with carers and influenced by carers. Members spoke about wanting people who join the forum to feel recognised, valued and able to support one another, rather than the group becoming overly formal or service-led.

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South London Mental Health Carers Forum – August 2026 Update

By Matthew McKenzie – Carer forum facilitator

On Monday 24 August, I facilitated another meeting of the South London Mental Health Carers Forum. The forum brings together unpaid carers and carer representatives from Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark and Croydon, giving people a space to share experiences, learn about their rights and influence the development of local mental health services.

We welcomed carers with many different experiences, including parents supporting adult children with serious mental illness, autism and substance misuse, as well as people involved in advocacy, peer support, staff training and service development. Some members had been navigating the mental health system for many years, while others were newer to caring and looking for guidance.

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Oxford University study seeks unpaid carers supporting someone with severe mental illness

By Matthew McKenzie – facilitator of carer groups

Dr Eiluned Pearce, a trainee clinical psychologist and researcher at the University of Oxford, is seeking help recruiting participants for an important study about unpaid carers’ wellbeing.

The study will explore whether attending social and community groups, including carer support groups, clubs and other group activities is associated with improved wellbeing among people supporting someone with a severe mental illness.

This is particularly relevant to what I promote at my site because many unpaid carers rely on peer groups and carer forums for understanding, information and a sense of connection. However, you do not need to attend any kind of group to participate. The researchers need to hear from carers who attend groups and those who do not.

Who can take part?

You may be eligible if you:

  • Are aged 18 or over
  • Live in the United Kingdom
  • Speak English fluently
  • Provide unpaid emotional or practical support to someone aged 16 or over
  • Support someone experiencing psychosis, bipolar disorder, an eating disorder, or complex emotional needs/personality disorder
  • Do not personally experience a severe mental illness

You do not have to describe yourself as a “carer” or “caregiver”. You might consider yourself a relative, partner, parent, sibling or friend who provides essential support.

What does participation involve?

Participants will complete an anonymous online survey lasting approximately 40 minutes. You can take breaks and return to it using the same internet browser, provided it is completed within one week of starting.

Questions will cover your wellbeing and mental health, the support you provide, its impact on you, any groups you attend and some information about your background.

Individual responses will not be shared outside the research team, and IP addresses will not be recorded.

Take part in the study

To read more about the research and access the survey, visit:

https://tinyurl.com/CaregiverSMIWellbeingOrgs

The study has been approved by the University of Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee (reference: MS IDREC 2204969).

For questions about the research, please contact:

Dr Eiluned Pearce
Email: eiluned.pearce@psy.ox.ac.uk
Telephone: 07775 229377

Dr Lorna Hogg
Email: lorna.hogg@hmc.ox.ac.uk

Dr Shama El-Salahi
Email: Shama.ElSalahi@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

Research into carers’ wellbeing remains limited, and it is important that the experiences of people supporting someone with a severe mental illness are properly heard and understood.

Gatekeeping Care – PCREF Poetry on Minority Ethnic Mental Health Carers

By Matthew McKenzie

My latest poetry video, “Gatekeeping Care,” explores the barriers minority ethnic unpaid carers can face when trying to navigate mental health services.

This is where unwritten rules, complicated medical language and unexplained carer rights can leave people struggling to understand how to obtain support.

Unpaid carers can also have their concerns not taken seriously.

The poem also reflects on what it feels like when decisions are made without carers and their cultural or religious beliefs are overlooked.

Through this poem, I want to raise awareness of why the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) matters to carers and families.

I feel mental health services must listen to carers, communicate clearly and recognise them as equal partners rather than leaving them feeling judged, invisible or powerless.

Why Black Carers Struggle to Access Mental Health Support

By Matthew McKenzie

Black unpaid carers can face significant barriers when trying to access mental health support for themselves or the person they care for.

These difficulties may include long waiting times, financial pressure, cultural stigma, fear of statutory services and a shortage of professionals who understand the effects of racism, racial trauma and culturally specific caring experiences.

In my new video, I examine how misdiagnosis, over-policing and expectations that Black families should simply remain “strong” can create mistrust and discourage carers from asking for help.

Drawing on my perspective as a Black lived-experience carer, I also consider what mental health services can do differently. Genuine improvement requires culturally responsive support, greater representation, safe spaces for carers, accessible community-led services and meaningful partnership with Black carers and families.

PCREF provides an important opportunity to challenge racial inequalities, but its success will depend on whether services listen to lived experience and turn commitments into visible action.

Southwark Adult Safeguarding Review: Carers’ Survey and Online Workshop

By Matthew McKenzie – Member of Southwark Carers Strategy Working Group

Southwark Council is inviting unpaid carers from Southwark to share their experiences and help shape its review of adult safeguarding services.

The council’s Health, Adult Social Care and Community Safety Scrutiny Commission is examining how safeguarding services can better support adults and their carers while promoting independence, dignity, choice and wellbeing.

The Commission would particularly like to hear carers’ experiences of:

  • Working with safeguarding and other professionals
  • Accessing information and support
  • Being included in safeguarding decisions
  • Preventing abuse, neglect and other forms of harm
  • Balancing personal safety with independence and choice
  • Self-neglect and hoarding
  • The use of technology
  • Communication with carers
  • Supporting someone living with dementia or mental ill health
  • Caring for an adult child or sibling with a disability

Your experiences could help the Commission identify what is working well, where improvements are needed and how carers can be more effectively recognised and involved.

Complete the carers’ survey

Unpaid carers can share their experiences through Southwark Council’s online Adult Safeguarding Review Carers’ Survey:

The survey is anonymous and will remain open until Friday 11 September 2026.

Join the online carers’ workshop

Southwark Council is also holding an online workshop where carers can discuss their experiences in greater detail.

Join the online carers’ workshop

Southwark Council is also holding an online workshop where carers can discuss their experiences in greater detail.

Date: Thursday 20 August 2026
Time: 12:30 pm
Location: Online via Microsoft Teams

To request the Microsoft Teams joining details, please contact Julie Timbrell, Scrutiny Project Manager, at:

julie.timbrell@southwark.gov.uk

Please include “Adult Safeguarding Carers’ Workshop” in the subject line.

For safeguarding and meeting security, the direct Teams link and passcode are not being published on this website.

If you cannot attend the workshop, you can still contribute to the review by completing the anonymous survey.

Confidentiality and use of information

Taking part in the survey or workshop is voluntary.

Notes will be taken during the workshop, but participants’ comments will be anonymised before they are included in reports or presented to councillors. Individual participants will not be identified without their explicit consent.

Survey responses will also be analysed and reported anonymously. Southwark Council is interested in identifying common themes and experiences rather than identifying individual carers.

The information collected will only be used to inform the Adult Safeguarding Review and its recommendations. A report containing the Commission’s findings and recommendations will be published after the review has been completed.

Further information

If you have any questions, please contact:

Julie Timbrell
Scrutiny Project Manager
Southwark Council
julie.timbrell@southwark.gov.uk

2nd Voices & Verses – PCREF Poetry Event

By Matthew McKenzie – Cygnet PCREF Carer Lead & Carer Ambassador

Cygnet PCREF Carer Lead & Carer Ambassador

On 4 August 2026, unpaid carers, professionals and people with lived experience came together at Cygnet Churchill for the second Voices & Verses Carers Poetry Event. The purpose of the afternoon was not simply to read poetry, but to create a safe space where carers could express experiences that are often overlooked within mental health services.

The event formed part of Cygnet’s ongoing commitment to the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) by exploring how creativity, culture and storytelling can strengthen co-production and improve relationships between carers and services.

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National Ethnic mental health Carer Forum : July Update 2026

By Matthew McKenzie – Chair, National Ethnic Mental Health Carers Forum

The July meeting welcomed unpaid carers, NHS organisations, universities, researchers and community groups from across England to discuss how mental health services can become more inclusive for carers from ethnic communities.

Matthew McKenzie opened the meeting by reflecting on over thirteen years of facilitating the forum and explained how its purpose has grown alongside national initiatives such as the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) and the Triangle of Care. The forum continues to provide a national platform where carers can influence NHS services, hear about new research and share experiences with professionals and decision-makers.

Matthew introduced the day’s programme, which included research presentations, NHS England engagement, updates from mental health trusts and national organisations, and opportunities for carers to influence future policy

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PCREF poem by Matthew McKenzie – Racial Inequality in Mental Health

What does racial inequality in mental health really look like from the perspective of an unpaid carer?

In this powerful spoken-word poem, Matthew McKenzie explores the realities of racism, bias, exclusion, stigma, and unequal treatment experienced by many ethnic communities when accessing mental health services.

Through an A–R alphabet structure, this poem highlights why the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) matters and why genuine cultural understanding, listening, and inclusion are essential to improving care.

This poem is part of my 100-poem PCREF collection, Unpaid, Unseen and Yet Unbroken, giving voice to the experiences of unpaid carers supporting relatives with mental illness while challenging racial inequalities across mental health services.