Episode 47: Avril Devaney MBE on receiving the award for her services to Mental Health, learning to live alongside grief and the joy and challenges of adopting children who’ve experienced trauma‪.‬ Have You Got Your Sh*t Together?

Episode 47: Avril Devaney MBE
Avril Devaney MBE was born in Lancashire and always knew as a child that she wanted to work with people, especially those who tended to be marginalised. She initially embarked on a pre social work course but applied for mental health nurse training after doing a placement on a mental health ward and realising that, in mental health care, your biggest clinical intervention is your relationship with the person you are caring for. 
She qualified in 1986 and worked her way up to a community sisters post where she was instrumental in developing the first community based drug and alcohol services. In 1999 she received the Queen’s Nursing Institute Award for Innovation after establishing a mental health nursing service in police custody suites. In 2000 she was named as one of the top 100 nurses to mark the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday. In 2001 she moved to North Wales and began to work in Cheshire and Wirral. By 2003 Avril had been appointed to the role of Director Of Nursing where she continued to innovate and find ways to help people live their fullest lives. In 2005 she met her future husband, Jim on a scuba diving holiday in the challenging waters of Scapa Flow in Scotland. They married and had their son Jamie in 2007 when Avril was 42. Avril also completed her MSC in Health and Social Care that same year.
Avril established a link with a mental health ward in South West Uganda in 20010. Sadly Jamie died after a short illness during a family holiday and fundraising trip to Uganda in 2011. Determined to find the meaning in this terrible loss Avril and Jim, along with close friends and colleagues,  established a charity in Jamie’s memory that went from working with one hospital in 2011 to 25 hospitals by 2023 and has been instrumental in helping to shape and develop mental health care across Uganda - touching countless lives. 
In 2015 Avril and Jim adopted two boys, Alex and Daniel. Avril received an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours 2016 for services to Mental Health Nursing after leading projects  to challenge stigma and to establish the first smoke free hospital trust in England- helping to change attitudes and extending the lives of people with mental illness. Avril contributed to several national nursing initiatives and received the Chief Nursing Officer’s Gold award in 2019. Avril retired aged 55 to spend more time with Alex and Daniel. She is now a full time mum, wife and jam maker. 
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Have You Got Your Sh*t Together? with Caitlin O’Ryan, is a podcast that celebrates not having your sh*t together! In each episode, Caitlin interviews guests who seemingly “have their sh*t together” - be that in life/love/work/hobbies. Throughout the conversation, the questions unveil whether they actually do, or whether the whole concept is a lie! With a mix of guests from various backgrounds, the podcast is sure to be relatable, honest, and an antidote to Instagram culture. 
Producer - Ant Hickman (www.ahickman.uk)
Artwork - Tim Saunders (www.instagram.com/timsaunders.design)
Photography - Patch Bell (www.patchstudio.uk)
Music - Cassia - 'Slow' (www.wearecassia.com)
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