Matthew Loat – Unsung Hero Awards

Nomination

Award Category:

Volunteer of the year

Individual or Team Nomination?

Individual

Qualifying Qualities

In these challenging times, nominators were asked to show how the nominee had demonstrated the following qualities:

Exceptional work ethic - going above and beyond their job description, especially in the past 12 months.
Outstanding achievement/s in work or outside of the organisation where relevant.
Drive for innovation and proactive leadership in these challenging times.
High level of interpersonal skills, such as kindness, empathy, loyalty and thoughtfulness to staff and patients.
A resilience considering Covid to their role and to the health and wellbeing of their colleagues.

Nominators Answer

Nominee's story :

Unsung Hero Nomination Matt Loat Magnificent Matt is a living legend who supports his local community and encourages people to be more aware of how mental health affects us all. Matt Loat is the Chair of The Willenhall Men’s Support in Coventry. He has been instrumental in making and promoting a local space for men to share their feelings and an online group for men to access 24 hours a day. He brings and shares his experiences to the group, which then serves as a map to guide others through their own challenging times. Matt is open, honest and reflective about he manages both his physical and mental health as a daily task. He has given his time to increase his knowledge of resources available for others, to share within the Men’s Support. Matt brings humour and remarks that ‘between all the fellas at the group, there is not a problem they haven’t overcome’, which I believe is a fantastic asset to the city. Personally, I witnessed the kindness and compassion given from Matt and the group to people at the lowest time in their lives. Matt’s story shows how engaging with others who have experienced similar circumstances can be the most comforting and realistic support at a time of crisis. Matt has been a fundamental role model for the NHS project started in Coventry named Mend the Gap, which aims to showcase in one place all support services available to people. Mend the Gap brings together members of the public, front-facing mental health professionals and voluntary / community organisations, so that people can see what is available and gain support for many different issues that can affect us all, which can ultimately impact our mental health. During the Covid lockdown, Matt discovered writing poetry as an emotional outlet; through his writing and reading, Matt has given others the best gift of all, the gift of hope. I believe Matt is one of Coventry’s unsung heroes, whose voice and words have and will support so many more. I would love that everyone like Matt is acknowledged, but I don’t know anyone else like Matt. So hence, here is my nomination for him and my hope for everyone to ‘be more Matt’.