My campaigns

If you’re looking for a guest speaker, writer, or facilitator for conversations on men’s mental health, stigma, anxiety, resilience and wellbeing, I’d be glad to help.

Whether in the press, on air, or at an event, if you’d like to invite me to speak, write, or facilitate a discussion, please get in touch — I’d be happy to explore how I could contribute.

This page highlights examples of my writing, public speaking and campaign work, demonstrating a consistent commitment to bringing lived experience into public conversation in ways that challenge stigma and support more thoughtful approaches to mental wellbeing.

Mary Frances Trust

I’ve worked closely with the Mary Frances Trust, a Surrey-based mental health charity, contributing through writing, facilitated groups, and public conversation focused on reducing stigma and improving understanding of mental health.

I currently help facilitate the Trust’s Bipolar Peer Support Group, supporting structured, respectful discussion grounded in lived experience. My role is not clinical, but centred on creating safe, thoughtful spaces where people can explore challenges, share insight, and learn from one another.

Alongside this, I previously contributed to the Trust’s Wellbeing Hour series, taking part in recorded conversations that explored mental health, recovery, and everyday resilience from a lived-experience perspective. These discussions were focused on normalising open conversation and offering practical, human insight rather than clinical narratives.

Chris brings clarity, empathy and balance to conversations about mental health. His ability to share lived experience in a grounded, accessible way helps others feel heard and understood, while keeping discussions constructive and practical.
​-- Mary Frances Trust

Bipolar UK

I’ve also contributed to events and discussions with Bipolar UK, the UK’s national charity dedicated to supporting people affected by bipolar disorder. I took part in a Bipolar UK event focused on lived experience and suicide prevention, contributing to an open discussion about how discussions about suicidal thinking can be approached with sensitivity and clarity, and how conversation — handled carefully and responsibly — can play a role in reducing risk and isolation.

Following the event, I wrote a considered piece exploring the themes that emerged from the discussion, including the dangers of oversimplification, the limits of public narratives around recovery, and the importance of creating space for honest but non-sensational conversation: Let's talk suicidal thinking.

My contribution to Bipolar UK’s work reflects a broader commitment to:

• sharing lived experience without turning it into identity
• balancing openness with responsibility
• challenging stigma while avoiding reductive or clinical framing
• supporting conversations that prioritise safety, nuance, and respect

End Stigma Surrey

I was a Mental Health Lived Experience Champion with End Stigma Surrey, a county-wide campaign focused on improving understanding and reducing stigma around mental health. While the campaign has now concluded, the work remains an important part of my wider community involvement.

In this role, I contributed to community and workplace conversations about emotional wellbeing, helping create space for more open, thoughtful, and empathetic discussion — particularly in everyday settings where mental health is often present but rarely acknowledged.

My approach was grounded in lived experience, shared in a practical and balanced way. I aimed to normalise conversation, challenge assumptions, and support others — colleagues, friends, family members, and community groups — to reflect more openly on wellbeing and how we respond to one another.

Selected work and contributions

As part of this role, I took part in a number of public and community-facing activities, including:

End Stigma Surrey Launch Event

I spoke at the official launch of the End Stigma Surrey campaign, sharing reflections from lived experience on stigma, recovery, and returning to work. This was my first time speaking publicly to a wider audience about mental health, and it reinforced the importance of thoughtful, human conversations — particularly in professional and organisational contexts.
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​If you’re interested, I also wrote a longer reflective piece about this event and the themes it raised: Mental health stigma: what’s changed — and what still depends on us​

Time to Talk Day
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​I also supported Time to Talk Day, engaging members of the public in informal conversations about mental health, wellbeing, and the barriers that often prevent people from seeking support. These discussions highlighted how stigma, time pressure, and expectations of “coping” can quietly shape behaviour — even when support is available.
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I also wrote an observational piece after Time to Talk Day, drawing out some of the patterns and hesitations I noticed in those conversations: Time to Talk Day: Conversations on Stigma.

Keeping in touch

If you’d like to keep in touch, you can subscribe to receive new posts by email. I share personal reflections on mental health, wellbeing, and identity, written from long-term lived experience.

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