Bangor University’s Centre for Mindfulness shortlisted for UK Health Award
Bangor University’s Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice (CMRP) have been awarded a prestigious UK health Award which highlights the people and organisations who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of health and wellbeing in the UK.
Bangor’s Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice was a finalist in the organisational category of awards from the Bevan Foundation in Parliament. The award recognizes individuals and organisations across the UK who have made an outstanding contribution to health and wellbeing in their field and promote the founding values of the NHS.
Trish Bartley, Chris Ruane MP, Rebecca Crane (Centre Director) and Cindy Cooper
CMRP was a finalist out of many wonderful organisations across the UK - primarily for their work across the UK in training clinicians and supporting them to deliver Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, in line with the NICE guidance to people experiencing depression.
Rebecca Crane, Director of the CMRP Bangor University commented:
“We are delighted and honoured to have been awarded this prize. We accept the award on behalf of all the clinicians across the UK who have trained with us and who go the extra mile to provide the best care possible to the patients they serve in the NHS. Their dedication to public service is an on-going inspiration to us.
“Mindfulness practice is inspiring many clinicians on a personal level and supporting them to sustain themselves through the challenges of their work. It is wonderful that training in mindfulness practice is becoming increasingly available on the ground to patients in the NHS, and in some areas is making a contribution to influencing the development of a more compassionate and patient centred culture. We are very grateful to Chris Ruane MP for nominating us.”
Mindfulness is a way of developing sustained attention that is purposeful, in the moment, and non-judgmental. The practice draws from ancient contemplative traditions but has been developed into an eight session training programme for contemporary secular contexts.
Mindfulness courses are now being offered by the NHS in many parts of the country as a treatment for a range of mental health issues following its recommendation by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence. Scientific studies have shown a 40-50% reduction in the risk of relapse for those suffering from depression.
Both Bangor University’s CMRP and mindfulness in general have been under the spotlight recently, following the establishment of a mindfulness group at Westminster and a series of interviews and documentaries on mindfulness on BBC Radio 4 in the last month.
CMRP has consistently provided UK leadership in enabling the strong research evidence on the effectiveness of mindfulness to be translated into practice within the NHS and other contexts. During this period of expansion in interest in the mindfulness CMRP has deepened its emphasis on the importance of organisations, commissioners and practitioners paying attention to integrity and good practice.
The Bevan Foundation is a registered charity which sees the welfare state, created by Aneurin Bevan, as fundamental to equality and justice and develops solutions to inequality and injustice, aiming to tackle the root causes of problems.
Publication date: 30 July 2014