BEAT win GlaxoSmithKine Impact Award!
UK based eating disorder charity, Beat has been named the winner of the GlaxoSmithKine Impact Award in recognition of the way the charity has used technology to change attitudes towards bulimia and anorexia.
The charity, based in Norwich, will receive £25,000 to go towards helping people with eating disorders.
Since changing its name from the Eating Disorders Association in 2007, Beat has been able to increase its impact by reaching out to many more people.
Over the past year it has had direct contact with 112,000 people, its website receives three million hits a month. Through the website, downloads and its pages on social networking sites it has had indirect contact with over 600,000 people.
Announcing the awards, the judges praised Beat as an “extremely innovative, well-managed project that has used modern technology to change attitudes towards eating disorders.”
As a winner of an Impact award, Beat receives £25,000 from the King’s Fund, an independent charitable organisation working for better health through research, policy analysis and development activities.
Susan Ringwood, Beat’s chief executive, said: “Winning this influential award is a fantastic confidence boost. Acknowledgement by GlaxoSmithKline and the King’s Fund shows sufferers and families the robustness and efficacy of our services, and our potential to influence change. We hope this encourages more people to come forward to get help.
“I would like to thank all of our supporters, donors and volunteers. They helped to make this happen.”
Judges from the awards praised the positive media attention the charity has generated and its partnership work with other organisations.
Beat was particularly commended for its online chat forums, social networking site, moderated message boards, access to an online recovery programme which provides trained buddies offering full support, national telephone helplines, email help and text and group support which the judges said all ensured the charity “reaches out to a significant number of people across the UK.”
In the past two years the charity has benefited from thousands of pounds of donations from Hollywood stars. Both Kate Winslet and Keira Knightley won High Court libel cases after the press suggested they were suffering from eating disorders. They chose to donate their payouts to the Norwich-based charity.
Recently the charity has urged people who suffer from an eating disorder while at university to contact them in order to help with an article that will give support to anyone in a similar position.
Anyone who can help or who needs more information about Beat can call 01603 753307 or log on to www. b-eat.co.uk.
Tags: beat, Eating Disorders
