21-year-old mental health campaigner selected to be Commonwealth Batonbearer
A 21-year-old student doctor who founded his own mental health charity has been selected to be a Batonbearer for the Commonwealth Games.
Shantanu Kundu, who was born in Walsall and now studies medicine in Liverpool, will carry the Queen's Baton before the Games start in Birmingham in July.
The 21-year-old was nominated by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for his contribution to charity.
And he has previously been recognised with the Diana Award and the Point of Light Award, which was given to him by Boris Johnson.
Shantanu is the founder and charity director of the Be Free Campaign, an award-winning mental health charity which has been recognised the Prime Minister.
Funded by the National Lottery and the Department for Health and Social Care, the organisation provides counselling, mental health provisions and wellbeing programmes for schools and communities nationwide so young people have the tools they need to look after their mental health.
Shantanu is dedicated to campaigning for mental healthcare, even meeting Boris Johnson and health secretary Sajid Javid at Downing Street last year where he was thanked for his efforts towards improving healthcare.
Shantanu took this as a further opportunity to fight for a cause that he has dedicated his life towards.
During the pandemic, Shantanu launched a placement programme to allow university students studying mental health counselling or psychology courses to develop their mental health skills.
This brought together students from universities across the countries to access state of the art mental health teaching from the charity team.
He also delivered mental health workshops throughout the pandemic, alongside working on the frontline as a student doctor, sending out thousands of food parcels, and co-authoring a mental health book called The Journey.
He even co-authored a paper about Covid-19 and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure - a type of non-invasive ventilation - which was published in the British Medical Journal.
Shantanu believes the arts can be used to improve mental health, and launched a music for mental health online programme which saw hundreds of people around the country joining in and showcasing their talents, all while raising money for charity.
He also launched the Mental Health Ambassador Programme, which aims to empower young people to become leaders and advocate for change, and The Mental Health Artists Network, which uses art therapy workshops and exhibitions to boost mental wellbeing.
