Remembering Grace Ansell
A few weeks ago, we heard the devastating news that Grace Ansell had passed away. Grace was a tireless mental health campaigner and we were lucky enough to have her as one of our amazing patient leaders. In this blog we want to pay tribute to Grace and her contributions to Just Treatment’s work.
Grace first got involved with Just Treatment in early 2024 as we were building up a group of young leaders to develop our new campaign around the youth mental health crisis. From the get go, Grace was keen to channel her own lived experience of mental illness into advocating for change.
Grace spoke openly about her mental health and used social media to raise awareness of her conditions and encourage other young people to seek support and treatment. We were so grateful that Grace brought this openness, vulnerability and courage into Just Treatment.
At our Patient Leader residential in May 2024 she spoke so powerfully about her mental health journey and got stuck into generating exciting ideas for campaign actions. She immediately built strong connections with other young leaders who saw her as an inspiration.
In all the Just Treatment spaces she engaged with, Grace had an amazing combination of gentleness and strength - helping others to feel safe and welcome, even as she found her own feet within the group.
A few days after the residential, a General Election was unexpectedly called. As an organisation we sprung into action making a plan to get patient voices and stories in front of politicians. Despite being quite new to the organisation, Grace was ready to get involved.
We hatched a plan to go to the election hustings in St Albans, where Daisy Cooper - Lib Dem Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson - was participating. Grace went along with Paddy, another young leader, and Hope, a Just Treatment staff team member. At the end of the hustings, Grace approached Daisy Cooper and bravely shared her experiences of mental illness, whilst making the case that politicians must do more to fund timely and quality mental health care for young people. This action was the definition of speaking truth to power - and though Grace was nervous, she didn’t shy away from the challenge. It was a hugely proud moment for her and for the entire organisation.
After the election Grace participated as a speaker in two webinars we organised on the education system and big tech. Once again Grace bravely shared her own experiences, speaking about how social media contributed to her anorexia and how ill-equipped schools are to support young people with mental illness. It was hard to hear everything Grace had been through when she was so young, and it was incredibly impressive that she spoke about those experiences with such power and eloquence.
In the time that Grace was involved in Just Treatment, she made a huge impact both on the campaigning work and the people around her. She was such a kind, warm and generous person. She made others feel welcome and comfortable in Just Treatment, even when she might not have been feeling 100% confident herself. She will be missed dearly, and we are heartbroken that she is gone.
We will continue to honour Grace by campaigning for timely and quality mental health care for every young person. We will forever be grateful for Grace’s incredible contribution to this work. We send our love and solidarity to Grace’s family and to all that knew her.
Grace’s family have set up a Just Giving page in Grace’s memory, to raise funds for mental health charity Mind. You can donate to the fundraiser by clicking here.