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This paper seeks to offer a profile of Peter Bullimore, one of the most dynamic lived experience speakers and trainers in the mental health world.

A profile of Peter is built up through an in‐depth interview by psychologist Jerome Carson. Areas covered include: his experience of hearing voices; his work in Australia and New Zealand; stigma; recovery; inspiring individuals in mental health; his personal illness and medication; the media; and changes and challenges.

Peter tells us that hearing voices are signs of a problem not an illness, and are often linked to trauma. He feels British work on recovery is in advance of that in Australia and New Zealand. He sees a day when it will no longer be necessary to use the term schizophrenia. Instead of recovery people should be thinking of discovery.

For too long the only voices that have been heard in the mental health field have been the professional voices. Peter's is one of many new inspirational voices to have emerged from the developing service user movement.

This paper aims to provide a living tribute to the mental health activist and international trainer Peter Bullimore.

Peter provided a list of people to who he wanted to provide tributes. Jerome approached all these people. All agreed.

Several people from around the world attest to the influence that Peter’s teaching and personality have had on their clinical practice and on their lives.

The disappearance of an Open Mind has left a shortage of journals, which welcome the user perspective. Mental Health and Social Inclusion have always championed the voice of people with lived experience. These are selected tributes to one man’s work in the field of mental health.

These accounts provide insights into the work of a remarkable individual.

Students of the mental health professions are mainly exposed to work produced by their peers. The history of mental health is filled with the stories of professionals, not the people who have used services.

Historically accounts of psychiatry are written by mental health professionals. Service user or lived experience accounts are often written from the perspective of the person’s story of illness and recovery. There are comparatively few, which celebrate the additional achievements of specific individuals with lived experience.

The purpose of this paper is to review the 16 published non-student Recovery Heroes and Remarkable Lives accounts published in Mental Health and Social Inclusion, using the connection, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment (CHIME) framework.

All 16 accounts were rated independently by four researchers and evaluated in terms of whether each account met the five criteria for the CHIME model.

All accounts met the criteria for the CHIME model, with the exception of one, which still met four of the five criteria. Evidence was presented which suggests that the model can be extended to creativity, connectedness, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment (C-CHIME), to incorporate creativity.

While a certain level of subjectivity is required in deciding how each account meets the CHIME criteria, there were high levels of inter-rater reliability within the research team. Creativity had a central place in all the accounts.

The revised C-CHIME model can be used by practitioners to examine accounts of recovery in a more focussed manner and may also help in devising recovery action plans.

The recovery model privileges both professional and lived experience perspectives on recovery. The current review highlights how much we can benefit from the wisdom contained in first person accounts.

This review adds to the existing literature and highlights the importance of creativity for mental health recovery.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of John McManus.

John provides a short life history and is then interviewed by Jerome.

John tells us about the insidious development of his illness and how for many years it was masked by substance abuse.

As Patricia Deegan has stated, “Each person’s journey of recovery is unique” (Deegan, 1996). That is why we can learn so much from case studies like John’s.

John’s account shows the value of Early Intervention Teams. The service he received from his local team was “second to none”.

John talks about the value of volunteering and how it helped him believe that he could once more play a constructive role in life.

There is no doubt that John benefitted from support from professionals, experts by experience and his family. Equally he was also open to all these sources of support.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Shaun Hunt.

Shaun provides a short biographical description of his life. Shaun is then interviewed by Jerome.

Shaun tells us about the long journey of recovery that he has made to the point where he is now a University Lecturer.

In large group studies the individual gets lost in statistical tables and the lived experience is absent. Single case studies provide us with stories to nurture and encourage us all.

Shaun says that we often miss the obvious question in our interactions with people with lived experience. “What happened to you?” seems a simple but telling conversation opener.

As Shaun says there are some amazing people who work in mental health services, but they are the ones who spoke to him and not to a “schizophrenic”.

As Shaun also says, “Never, ever give up hope, no matter how dark and bad things become, there is always a way back”.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Maddi Faith.

In this single case study, Maddi gives a short background and the origins of her mental health issues and is then interviewed by Jerome.

Maddi tells the authors how her problems developed in her childhood and of the journey she has been on since.

Single case studies provide a single perspective. Yet are they of any less value than a commentary by an academic? On the contrary, many offer unique insights into how the authors provide services for people with mental health problems, and of better ways to help them.

Maddi raises the issue of “falling between services”, with the result that the individual concerned does not receive the help they need.

The persistent stigma of mental health problems is an issue that will need to be addressed for decades if it is to be overcome. Personal witness is vital in tackling this issue. Maddi has already done a lot to address this through her work at University.

The Trust the second author worked for, for many years used to have a staff “Made a Difference” award. Maddi surely deserves such an award for her own efforts to develop our understanding of the realities of mental health problems.