Sarah-Lou Glover
Sarah-Lou Glover, founder of Parental Minds CIC
A mental health organisation has been selected as the winner of the 2021 Prince of Wales Award in Devon.
The Awards judges deemed Parental Minds CIC, an organisation founded by Sarah-Lou Glover, the worthy winner of this year’s award.
Sarah-Lou has been a mental health caregiver her whole life and knows what a lonely journey it can be. This was the rationale for establishing Parental Minds in September 2019, which includes an initiative designed to support and empower parents who are acting as caregivers for friends and family.
The first meeting for their Parent+ Support Hub took place in February 2019, and then the country entered its first national lockdown.
‘It actually turned out to be a particularly apt time to start up the company,’ said Sarah. ‘Being a parent/caregiver during the pandemic left many feeling isolated and lonely, with some feeling great anguish for their children/family/friends who were struggling with their mental health. Parental Minds was able to provide a safe ‘virtual Parent+’ space where parents/caregivers could come together, share ideas, gain comfort from each other and learn new strategies for better supporting themselves and those around them.’
The win came as a complete surprise to Sarah who had been nominated, unbeknownst to her by Steve Craddock, from Honiton Health Matters and who is now a Co-Director of Parental Minds CIC.
‘I feel truly humbled and honoured to have won this Award’ she said. ‘There has been such a wealth of worthy projects that have supported people during this pandemic so I’m enormously grateful to have been singled out, along with all the wonderful volunteers and community that support our Parent+ in Honiton.’
Asked how she will invest the £1,000 prize money, Sarah said: ‘It’s a much needed sum that will go towards developing more Parent+ Hubs across East Devon. We are also setting up a new project designed to support new parents. We will be working with local baby groups to raise mental health awareness at this very early stage, encouraging mental health as an everyday conversation.’
Lady Arran, one of the Panel judges commented: ‘We were grateful to applicants for the Prince of Wales Award during a very difficult 15 months. We reached a semi-final of 3 very deserving organisations and talked to them on Zoom. Our decision was to give this prestigious Award to Parental Minds -Honiton who are giving vital support with wrap around care for parents and carers who have family members affected by mental health issues. Many of the 75 families in the area benefitting from their support have suffered so much during the Lockdowns and the plan is to develop these services into other towns. We wish great success to them.’
Sarah and Steve will be attending the Devon County Show on the first day of Devon County Show 2021, at 4.30pm in the members’ area to accept their award from Alistair Martin on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall.