Talbot Teen Centre Receives Award for Mental Health Supports Offered

The Douglas Utting medal and award was presented on November 7th to the Talbot Teen Centre for their programs dealing with depression and with suicide prevention. A gathering to celebrate the award was hosted at the Centre and was the first time the presentation was been held outside Montreal.

Both Karen Vecchio, local MP and Jeff Yurek, local MPP offered congratulations accompanied by Karen’s puppy Benson who Karen commended as being beneficial for helping to alleviate depression and anxiety.

Tim Utting presented the award on behalf of the Douglas Utting Foundation.

Our family is excited to be able to present the Utting medal and award for such a worthwhile organization as the Talbot Teen Centre. This award is dedicated to the memory of our brother Doug whose tragic death in 1985 made our family aware of the seriousness of depression and other mood disorders. The Utting medal has been awarded by the Jewish General Hospital’s department of Psychiatry annually since 2001 and is presented to an individual or group working in Canada who have made a significant contribution to the study, understanding and treatment of depressive disorders.

The work that you continue to do here is extremely important. More so than ever the youth of today are faced with challenges to their mental wellness especially as mentioned with the sometimes negative impacts of social media. We celebrate your achievement in providing a safe place for teens to discuss how they feel and to work through the issues they are faced with on a daily basis.”

Past recipients of the award have included psychiatric professionals from all over Canada. In 2005 the criteria were broadened to include community groups.

Accepting the award on behalf of the Teen Centre were staff members Brandon Beattie and Brooke Haines.  

TTC staff members Brandon Beattie (left) and Brooke Haines (right) accept the Douglas Utting Medal and Award from Tim Utting.

On hand for the celebration were Mark Girdauskas (TTC Coordinator of Fund Dev't, Events & Volunteering); Karen Vecchio (E-M-L MP); Jeff Yurek (E-M-L MPP) and Sean Dyke (St. Thomas Elgin Youth Employment Counselling Centre)