West London based children's wellness game developer, Book of Beasties came out victorious at this years Design in Mental Health Awards ceremony held at the Ricoh Centre in Coventry.

These newcomers to the world of mental health education rubbed shoulders with the likes of OxeHealth, Kingsway Group and the NHS, taking the podium alongside some of the most well known names in healthcare today.

The awards were hosted by Design in Mental Health Network (DIMHN), which is led by chairman of Mensa Jenny Gill. The DIMHN provide access to cutting edge research and education and encourage stakeholders to become active in creating better healthcare environments.

The glitzy awards ceremony was hosted by the renowned physician, broadcaster, comedian and healthcare commentator Dr Phil Hammond, who expressed his admiration of the Book of Beasties intervention, saying he was ‘’inspired’’ by the project.

Book of Beasties is a psychologist endorsed Mental Wellness Card Game aimed at Key stage 2 and early Key stage 3 designed to raise emotional literacy as well as normalise and de-stigmatise the open and positive conversation around Mental Health, Wellness and emotions.

The judging panel consisted of many experts and healthcare leaders including Johnathan Campbell the Associate Director of Mental health, NHS Greater Manchester and Mental Health trainer and artist Katharine Lazenby.

Lazenby said ‘’They’ve [Book of Beasties] created a brilliant game which helps children develop their understanding of mental health and their ability to think about and articulate how they feel. Its a wonderful resource for schools and invaluable for enabling early intervention MH [sic] support.

“As a member of the steering committee for #DIMHN2019 [sic] I sat on the panel of judges at the conference awards. We fell in love with Book of Beasties - giving them an award was the easiest decision we made.”

NHS trusts dominated the evening, however as the Concept Product Innovation of the Year Award was announced, the presenter stated that Book of Beasties ‘’Blew the other entrants out of the water’.’

Creators Phil and Tom both said: “We are absolutely speechless and blown away by this win. Everyone in these awards has the same goal of bettering the Healthcare provided in this country and beyond and we are simply honoured to be recognised alongside them.

“We hope this recognition goes towards us being able to reach more children with Book of Beasties and encourage more people to feel able to talk about Mental Health.’’

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