‘Building community through service’: UOK Brighton & Hove to host mental health talk

Posted on 1 May 2025

Building on the momentum of Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 (12-18 May), UOK Brighton & Hove is continuing the conversation by hosting a powerful in-person talk exploring how lived experience and community service can transform lives. 

On 21 May, UOK Brighton & Hove is hosting a community mental health talk at the Brighthelm Centre. The evening will feature mental health speaker and The Piano finalist Daniel Wilsher, sharing his personal story in a talk titled “Building Community Through Service”. 

Daniel’s talk is followed by a live piano performance and audience Q&A.  
 
Schedule: 
Date: Wednesday, May 21 2025 
Time: 6 – 7:30pm. Doors at 5:30pm 
Venue: Brighthelm Centre, North Road Brighton and Hove BN1 1YD 
 

This talk is a great example of how we’re using lived experience and creative approaches to connect with local communities and promote mental health conversations in new spaces. 
 
As a way to give back to the community, UOK has chosen Brighton & Hove Food Partnership as the supported charity for the evening. They are a non-profit community organisation helping people learn to cook, access a healthy diet, grow their own food and waste less food.  

Here’s more about our inspiring speaker: Daniel Wilsher:

Daniel Wilsher is a 28-year-old award-winning mental health speaker, finalist of Channel4’s hit show The Piano, Founder of Damaged Goods, Co. Founder of LivEdX Learning and Co. Founder of Orb. Drinks. After losing a parent to suicide, Daniel was faced with his own battle against depression and anxiety. A battle that saw him drop out of university, lose ownership of a business, and struggle to maintain a job while fighting addiction and financial issues.   
 
After nearly a year of psychotherapy and medication, he started his journey as the UK’s youngest full-time mental health speaker with a vision to give people the skills, tools, knowledge and courage to cope with life’s challenges better than he has.  
 
Three years later, Daniel has spoken to over 65,000 people, delivered a TEDx Talk, worked with clients like META, Clifford Chance, Jaguar Land Rover, BT, ITSU, and the Ministry of Justice, shared his story with 5million on TV, advised on mental health in education policy, launched his 100 Talks for Change initiative delivering 100 talks in 20 days across 63 schools to impact 20,000 students, and has saved a few lives along the way. 
 
It’s his mission to be the voice he wished he had when he was younger. To use his lived experience as a vehicle to create positive change in the lives of others.