The story of patient Sedona who finds Christmas “triggering” struck a chord with many news outlets over the festive period.

 The 20-year-old was interviewed by BBC Northampton and clips of what she said were played out during the Breakfast show news bulletins on December 22, 2021.

In addition, Sedona’s story featured in the Chronicle and Echo, Northants Live, Charity News Today, Rosetta Publishing and Advent Live.

Liz Ritchie, our resident media spokesperson, was called upon to give her thoughts on how to cope if Covid leads to Christmas plans being cancelled.

Her comments were picked up and published in the Staffordshire Mail, KentLiveNews.com, Cornwall Live, Plymouth Live and 30 more local platforms across the entire country.

A similar interview she gave about Christmas cancellations, but a completely different article, also appeared in the Worcester Observer, the Stratford Observer, the Solihull Observer and eight more local newspaper websites.

Liz also wrote, not one, but two columns for the Chronicle and Echo in December which were created to give support to anyone who may find Christmas and New Year challenging.

Her first article entitled ‘Northampton therapist offers advice to those who experience mental health issues around Christmas’ was published online and in the newspaper. It also got picked up by the Daily Advent.  

The second, ‘Northampton therapist urges caution with New Year resolutions and tells people to be kind to themselves’ gave people advice on setting realistic goals for the 2022.

December was rounded off by a nice article that was published in SEN Magazine on December 28, which was written by Headteacher of the St Andrew’s College Cheryl Smith.  

The Editor of Essex Life Magazine got in touch about the HSJ award win back in September and published the story in the December edition of the magazine and Daisie-Belle, one of the evening presenters from BBC Northampton interviewed Kaitlin Shortland, who was named  Mental Health Nursing Student of the Year by St Andrew’s staff.

Her story also attracted interest from the Chronicle and Echo and the Northamptonshire Chamber because she overcame “crippling anxiety” to complete her work placement where she impressed everyone she came into contact with.

That same day, the Chronicle and Echo also ran a piece about how Hardingstone Academy has been awarded with the accreditation from the St Andrew’s School Mental Wellness Programme called LightBulb. Again, the article made it into the newspaper and was published on the Daily Advent.

Early on in December, the Chronicle and Echo ran a story about how the Global Film Festival had chosen to broadcast I’m Not Mad, I’m Me, which St Andrew’s unveiled in the summer. Documenting three patients’ recovery journeys, the half-hour film has generated a lot of interest and raised much awareness surrounding complex mental health issues. 

The story made it into the main newspaper too and the Daily Advent also published the article.