Salford resident attends Buckingham Palace Garden Party for his inspirational work to improve mental health services.
Dan Steers was praised at Buckingham Palace for his incredible voluntary work that seen crucial changes made to mental health training and services for Northwest Ambulance Services employees.
For over 30 years, Dan has said that he has lived with a long-term mental health condition which saw him reach low points in his life.
As well as living with a neurodiversity diagnosis, Dan says some of his earlier moments in life proved to be damaging to his mental and physical health.
Over recent years, he managed to turn things around and has used his journey as a powerful example of how lived experience can help encourage change.
But not just for himself, but for entire communities.
After spending parts adult life being supported and cared for by mental health services, Dan saw an opportunity to welcome more positivity into his life.
He made this change by starting volunteer for the First Step Trust, an innovative charity providing opportunities for people excluded from working life because of mental health conditions, learning disabilities, drug or alcohol and other disadvantages.
And after volunteering their it gave him more confidence from the support he was receiving.
As he said: “When I gained a little more confidence in myself, thanks to the support I was given, I could really see how mental health services a lifeline is to so many people.
“I also saw how I could be a part of that and maybe put a little bit of good back into the world and give back to the those who were there for me when I needed it the most.”
Dan continued: “I’m so glad I took that step to start volunteering because it’s lead me to where I am today.”
And this confidence led him onto a path of many different ventures, which led to his ground-breaking work initiatives aimed at suicide and self-harm prevention.
And Dan has also been able to become a trusted advisory for public engagement strategies across the NHS and Research organisations.
In 2017, his commitment to mental health advocacy deepened when he became the chair of the Salford Mental Health forum and by 2019, he used his time at the Northwest Ambulance Service and joined the Patient and Public Participation Panel.
Through his work he was then appointed the Lived Experience Lead on a significant new initiative funded by Health Education England to support the project.
Led by the ambulance service it aimed to improve mental health training for ambulance staff and call centre personnel on the frontline.
Drawing on his own experiences, he was able to collaborate with professionals to create a programme which was launched in 2022.
The programme was launched and known as HASE (Mental Health Ambulance Staff Education), which was rolled out across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
And his support didn’t stop there, as he was able to lend his expertise to police services and was able to become Vice Chair of the Advisory Board and later Chair of the Forcewide Training Advisory Board.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work I’ve done to develop an education and training programme in mental health support for NHS staff.
“The project has taken my work across the globe and I’m so grateful to NWAS for their continued support in my work.”
As the current Chairperson of the Service User Council at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust, Dan’s influence and work is still making a difference at a strategic level.
His work has supported the NHS so much so that he received thanks at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party.
And his work was highlighted by Elena Church, Patient and Public Panel Facilitator at Northwest Ambulance Service, who added: “Dan has been a valued member of our PPP for nearly seven years, having joined as part of the very first cohort.
“Over the years, he has played a key role in a wide range of work across NWAS, particularly in supporting our mental health initiatives and serving as a patient representative on various workstreams.”
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