Philip Green was given a Civic Award in 200 for his initiative to provide affordable holidays for people with mental health problems and their carers.
The following is an extract from the Wokingham Times in 2000: –
“Philip Green, who lives in Eustace Crescent, says he was “completely surprised” but also “very pleased ” to receive a Civic Award.
Mr Green, a committee member of Wokingham and District MIND, was nominated for his hugely successful idea of affordable holidays for people with mental health problems and their carers. More than three years later the MIND holiday caravan is more popular than ever. He said “It hasn’t been easy because I have been ill for a lot of years myself. The project came about when somebody said to me ‘wouldn’t it be nice to have a holiday’, and I thought there must be a lot of people like me who need a break but couldn’t afford it. Of course we got knocked back by a lot of people, there was a lot of prejudice. It was very difficult to get it all set up. But it is nice to know that it’s a success and doing what it was intended to do.””
In 2004 Wokingham and District MIND disaffiliated from national Mind and is more recently known as Wokingham Mental Health Association.
Wokingham Town Museum Unique Identifier: WTH0421