Success for Lincoln Alumnus at Business Excellence Awards

University of Lincoln alumnus, John Stacey, has been recognised at the recent Lincolnshire Business Excellence Awards.

John, a BA (Hons) Audio Production graduate, picked up the Charitable Business of the Year award for his company MENTalk Lincs CIC.

Established by John in October 2020, MENTalk Lincs aims to make resources for mental health support more readily available for all and create activities to connect more people, enabling peer support with some methods unique to Lincolnshire.

Speaking about setting up the company, John said: “There was nothing like us when we started, and we began with specialising around men’s mental health support, doing things a little bit different and engaging men in a way they’d understand and appreciate. The aims were to fill the void between your friends and family and clinical support, which can often have a huge waiting time. We quickly realised that it wasn’t just men, and everyone needed something the way we were doing it – with more and more projects coming out of nowhere, due to requests, grant funding, and collaborations in the community.

“All of this was built upon my own journey in mental health, my own qualifications, learning and self-development, and my experience of working in Father’s Mental Health internationally; culminating in working with fathers worldwide, delivering keynote speeches to the NHS and Public Health England, and successfully lobbying the World Health Organisation for changes to their guidelines around maternity services.”

In awarding MENTalk Lincs Charitable Business of the Year, Ringrose Law – who sponsored the Award – said that John’s story and application blew them away, praising he and his team’s ‘incredible’ achievements.

Talking about the success, John added: “Winning the award was fantastic, and we were up against some really amazing local charitable causes doing stellar work, so that made it even sweeter. But honestly, the award is merely a reminder of the real reason we do the work we do – to get people talking, to enable a change in mindset if needed, to connect the community, and change and save lives. We wouldn’t have received it if the judging panel didn’t realise the change we’re making in the community.” There was further success for individuals connected to the University at the Business Excellence Awards, with Alumna Jonathan Brewer taking home Rising Star of Year whilst current student, Luke Smith, bagged the Environmental / Sustainable Business of the Year Award for his business Seaweed Culture.