A NATIONAL award has been presented to a Southend volunteer for improving the lives of 829 people with mental health problems.

Ian Wilson, from Southend, has received a British Citizen Award for Services to Healthcare, for his volunteer work at the NetPark Wellbeing Project.

The project takes place in Chalkwell Park, Southend, to encourage people living with dementia and mental health issues to exercise by enjoying a walk in the park, which is followed by therapeutic art to express their emotions.

Ian has been volunteering at the project for at least three days a week for the last three years and in this time has created a unique app, called Garden of Remember.

The app is to raise awareness of the struggles which dementia patients face.

This was inspired by findings from the project, which have shown how commonly dementia patients can forget words, which makes it hard for them to communicate.

Using the app in Chalkwell Park directs you to 12 locations where GPS located short stories play automatically, which encourages exercise. These are stories are from dementia patients, who were asked questions by year six pupils from local schools, after walking with the patients around the park. This footage was then used for the app to help raise awareness for the condition and to show how people with dementia communicate their past.

Ian also helps to run two dementia art therapy groups with 18 participants, as well as securing funding for the project. The project is run by Metal, which helps support artists from the community, alongside Southend Borough Council.

Ian was honoured at the reward ceremony, which took place at the Palace of Westminster on January 24.

TV presenter, Michael Underwood, hosted the event. He said: “Having presented the very first British Citizen Awards, it’s a real honour to be invited back and a privilege. I am looking forward to learning more about the incredible people being recognised for their contribution to society.”