Nip in the Bud
2120. Kitty Nabarro
Kitty Nabarro, from London, co-founded her children’s mental health charity ‘Nip in the Bud’ in 2015 with her late husband Daniel, when their daughter suffered from OCD for over a decade without a proper diagnosis.
The aim of establishing ‘Nip in the Bud’ was to improve accessibility to expertise by producing free online short films and fact sheets across a range of mental health topics, including OCD, to encourage awareness and early intervention and to avoid conditions becoming more serious in later years.
They have since produced over 80 evidence-based educational films and real-life experience films, alongside a range of professional training resources to help parents, caregivers, and educators encourage mental health conversations among children with a particular focus on those at primary school age, and provide the right tools to tackle any concerns.
Earlier this year, the charity held a crowdfunding campaign to help launch a podcast that will provide another platform for ‘Nip in the Bud’ to share further resources on mental health and neurodiversity with parents and others working with children.
In a personal letter to Kitty, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
“Through your charity Nip in the Bud, you are doing incredible work to raise awareness of mental health disorders in children and help avoid conditions becoming more serious as they get older.
“I was touched to hear how you set up the charity with your late husband Daniel, inspired by your daughter’s experience suffering from OCD for years without proper diagnosis and your determination that others should receive better support.
“I understand that you have collaborated with a range of health experts to create an impressive collection of resources on mental health topics, which are now being used in primary schools across London. Because of your efforts, these educational films are helping to change people’s lives.”
Congratulating Kitty on her award, Theresa Villiers, Kitty’s local MP for Chipping Barnet, said:
“I am delighted that the Prime Minister has recognised the outstanding work Kitty Nabarro and her charity ‘Nip in the Bud’ have been doing to encourage awareness about mental health disorders in children. She is an inspiration to all in our community and thoroughly deserves the Point of Light award.”
Kitty said:
“I’m honoured to win the Point of Light award for Friday 18th August 2023. I’m grateful to be recognised for my voluntary work as co-founder, Chair and the running of the children’s mental health awareness charity ‘Nip in the Bud’. I’m particularly delighted for the ‘Nip in the Bud’ website to be shared nationally as widely as possible to make as many people caring for and working with primary school children aware of our FREE online resources.”
See more about ‘Nip in the Bud.’