Marjorie Wallace, one of the UK’s leading mental health campaigners, was honoured last week at the Communiqué Awards 2014.
Wallace, who founded the charity SANE, was named Healthcare Communications Advocate – a special award to recognise an individual who has made an outstanding contribution through healthcare communications to public health throughout his or her career.
Wallace has been a respected and credible voice on disability, mental health and charitable issues for many years and is widely regarded as having been one of the strongest influences on government policy on community care.
She began her career as a trainee producer working with David Frost and, after stints at London Weekend Television, spent 17 years as an investigative journalist for The Sunday Times as its social services correspondent.
But it was her series of articles for The Times on the neglect for people with schizophrenia that influenced Wallace’s decision in 1986 to set up SANE, a charity that campaigns to improve quality of life for anyone affected by mental illness.
Since then, SANE has gone from strength to strength and Wallace has won numerous accolades for her work, include both an MBE and a CBE, and honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
The Communiqué Awards are run by PMLiVE publishers PMGroup and they recognise and commend excellence and best practice in local, European and international healthcare communications.
The awards ceremony for 2014 took place at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, on July 3, 2014.
• See the full results of the Communiqué Awards 2014
• See photos of the winners from the Communiqué Awards 2014