The conference, organised by Luton charity Our Minds Matter, brought together a wide range of guests, including service users, providers, commissioners and researchers. It explored how faith and culture can be used to tackle the stigma surrounding mental illness and how it  can act as an intervention to prevent mental ill-health.

The conference’s organiser and Bedfordshire PhD student Jolel Miah, said: “It was a great honour to host this conference on mental health and serve this University and Luton. I think it was important that people from all walks of life attended this conference to hear about how to challenge and break stigma around mental health.”

The University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (External Relations) Prof Ashraf Jawaid welcomed guests to the University, saying: “I am very pleased to be supporting this event because I think it is an excellent example of what we stand for at the University of Bedfordshire – the creation of transformational educational opportunities in an inclusive and multi-cultural setting.”

The Deputy Mayor of Luton Councillor Dr Raja Saleem, the MP for Luton North Kelvin Hopkins and Lord Hussain from the House of Lords also attended and spoke at the conference.

Staff from the University, including Student Mental Health Advisor Jill Gale and Senior Lecturer in Psychology Dr Antigonos Sochos, also contributed to the discussions.