Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff MBE to host prestigious Mind Media Awards 2016
Cricketer, presenter and broadcaster Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff will host this year’s Mind Media Awards on Monday November 14 at The Troxy, London.
Mind’s annual award ceremony celebrates and honours the very best portrayals and reporting of mental health problems across broadcast, print, digital media and film.
Freddie’s successful career includes his legendary contribution to the 2005 Ashes win against Australia, winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and since retiring captaining a team on Sky 1’s ‘A League of Their Own’.
His interest in mental health began through an exploration of depression in sport in his BBC1 documentary ‘The Hidden Side of Sport’, which was nominated for a 2012 Mind Media Award for its nuanced and sensitive portrayal of mental health.
Freddie has since spoken out about his own experiences of depression in BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and whilst on Australia’s version of I’m A Celebrity, which he says he only fully began to understand after making the BBC documentary.
Freddie is one of seven Mental Health Ambassadors recently appointed by the Professional Cricketers Association, who have partnered with Mind in order to raise further awareness of mental health within cricket. This comes as many national sports governing bodies are also signing the Mental Health Charter for Sport and Recreation to raise awareness and show their commitment to improving the support offered to sports people.
Thirteen awards will be presented at the Mind Media Awards in categories including drama, entertainment, documentary, journalist and, for the first time, film. Amongst those nominated are Channel 4’s The Island with Bear Grylls, BBC Three documentary Professor Green: Suicide and Me and E4’s 90s set teen drama My mad fat diary.
Freddie Flintoff says:
“I’m really looking forward to celebrating all the great work highlighted at this year’s Mind Media Awards. It’s encouraging to see that the media is giving more and more attention to mental health stories, and nowhere is that more evident than on this year’s shortlist.
“The media has a really important role in shaping the way we all think about mental health problems. Powerful and sensitive portrayals of mental health both educate the public and encourage people to seek help when they need it most.”
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind says:
“We’re absolutely delighted that Freddie will be hosting this year’s Mind Media Awards. As the President of the Professional Cricketer’s Association, Freddie’s steadfast commitment to raising awareness for mental health and reducing the stigma within sport is admirable.
“This year’s nominations reflect some of the excellent work that has been done to improve depictions of mental health across television, radio and, this year, film too. The media industry has huge influence and with that comes a responsibility to contest the stigma that sadly still exists, through accurate representation.”
Jason Ratcliffe, Professional Cricketers Association's Assistant CEO and Head of Member Services, says:
“We are very proud of the PCA’s focus on mental health and our relationship with Mind. The Mental Health Charter is central to the future of sport, and through our mental health ambassadors, one of whom is Freddie, our Special Merit awards and our Mind Matters resources we believe that we can reduce stigma and increase support for any sportsperson experiencing a mental health problem.”
The shortlist for the Mind Media Awards 2016 can be seen at www.mind.org.uk/awards.
The winning entries will be chosen by a panel of 14 industry experts who have all produced their own work championing mental health issues.
Join the conversation on Twitter with @MindCharity using the tag #mindawards