2016 DIMH Awards Dinner


Former champion boxer delivers knockout performance


Former WBC World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Frank Bruno MBE – well-known since his retirement from the sport both for his charity work, and for his efforts to destigmatise mental health following his own diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 2003 – was the after-dinner speaker and award presenter at this year’s Design in Mental Health Awards. Held on 17 May – the first day of the 2016 Design in Mental Health conference and exhibition – the awards dinner saw over 250 guests gather at the National Conference Centre in Solihull to celebrate achievement in categories ranging from Project of the Year to Healthy Outdoor Lifestyle.


This year’s black-tie awards dinner, held in the Imperial & Trafalgar suite at the NCC, began with a short welcome address from DIMHN chair, Jenny Gill, who noted that the 2016 Awards had attracted the highest number of entries to date. After the dinner, and a charity ‘Heads & Tails’ game which raised over £2,000 for the President’s Sporting Club and The Essex Disabled Sports Foundation, the evening’s compère, David Davies – who runs a sports representation company, and is also the former boxer’s agent – introduced guest speaker, Frank Bruno, dubbing him ‘not only a boxing champion, but also a champion of people’s hearts’.


QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION Following a rapturous reception, the pair then took part in a forthright 25-minute question and answer session, during which David Davies quizzed Frank Bruno about his highly successful boxing career, on how he broke into the sport, and about his personal battle with mental ill health. With what he felt was the media’s tendency to characterise celebrities who had suffered mental ill health even years after they recovered, the boxer’s agent told the audience that, 13 years after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he reckoned Frank Bruno looked in excellent shape. Touching on the former boxer’s well-publicised ‘breakdown’ last September, David Davies asked him how he was now. He replied: “I am actually feeling very, very good, with a lot of things happening for me; my children and I are healthy, and everything is nice and rosy, but that’s not to say that in a couple of months I might not be a bit low.”


YOUNGEST OF SIX Describing his childhood, Frank Bruno explained that he was the youngest of six


DIMHN chair, Jenny Gill, welcomes guests to the 2016 awards dinner.


because I never listened to my mum.” Asked if he himself had perceived


any signs of mental ill health in himself as a youngster, Frank Bruno said: “One of things I remember was buying two or three of a particular item in shops, when I really only needed one, which may have been a sign of bipolar. I also experienced mood swings.” David Davies asked the special


guest whether he had shown early signs of being a sportsperson as a young man, or whether he was simply ‘finding his way through life’. Frank Bruno said: “Probably the latter, although I did have a desire to be a professional boxer, because I knew I could make some money doing it. I still look after myself, and, despite being 54, feel about 25.” His boxing heroes, he said,


included Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, and John Conteh, but equally ‘even white collar workers who gave it a go, because you don’t realise how tough boxing is until you go into a ring, put on the boxing gloves, and take a good


children, and, while the other five all secured good jobs, he felt initially a little hampered by dyslexia, which made him ‘a little bit down’. He said: “I also got myself into a bit of trouble doing crazy things, and, while I have no criminal record, aged 11 I was sent to a posh borstal. I thus had a mixed upbringing – very happy at times, but clearly being sent to the borstal was not a pleasant experience. “However,” he told dinner guests, “I now realise it was the best thing that could have happened,


Frank Bruno discussed his boxing career, how he broke into the sport, and his personal battle with mental ill health, with a mixture of humour, sadness, and optimism for the future.


punch to the nose. That’s when you realise it is a serious game’.


AIMING FOR A RAPID KNOCKOUT Having initially moved into the amateur ranks, Frank Bruno recalled that his main priority was not to have to last a full 12-15 rounds – instead he focused on knocking out his opponents as quickly as possible. After becoming the youngest ever ABA champion, he turned professional, commencing a successful 14-year career which saw him face numerous world champions, including Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, before winning the WBC title in defeating Oliver McCall at Wembley Stadium in 1995. His frequent national television appearances and unforgettable relationship with boxing commentator, Harry Carpenter, have helped him maintain a healthy relationship with the public, and in 1990 he was awarded an MBE. Frank Bruno said that, on


becoming a ‘celebrity’, he tried to remain himself, and ‘as level-headed as possible’. He said: “Along the way a number of my managers tried to get


THE NE TWORK J u l y 20 16 13


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