He rarely makes headlines here in the island but his achievements have not gone unrecognised in the UK.

But Douglas North MHK and Treasury member Ralph Peake’s quiet determination to champion a Manx mental health charity will see him named ’politician of the year’ in London later this month.

DB Recovery and McLean Hospital are to present him with a ’deconstructing stigma award’, billed as the Oscars that celebrate the unsung stars in the field of addiction treatment and recovery.

Mr Peake receives the accolade for his work as chairman of Quing, a new Manx mental health charity that helps trauma victims reintegrate in the community.

Quing’s ethos is not to treat problems or fix what is wrong, but to grow what is already strong in a person’s life.

The presentation to Mr Peake will take place at an awards dinner held at the Tower Hotel, next to London’s Tower Bridge, on June 27.

He was nominated by Graham Clucas who has been in recovery since 2005 and returned to the island in 2016 after 10 years in the UK.

He said: ’Moving back to the island I was shocked by all the resources going to the medical model.

’Ralph began to open doors politically, get business people on board, get me access to ministers and chief executives in the civil service and bits of funding to keep us going.’

He said Mr Peake had repeatedly defended him from attacks from those who judged him on his past and ridiculed the idea of a recovery movement.

He said he had ’gone beyond the call of duty’, shown a ’massive amount of integrity’ and had been ’highly creative and innovative’ on how to get long-term funding for Quing and the recovery-focused initiatives it hopes to roll out.

unwavering

Through his ’hard work, many conversations and unwavering support’, Mr Peake has arranged for Treasury to put out to tender for a peer monitoring scheme to operate through social security, he added.

Mr Peake said: ’I am delighted that the work of Quing is being recognised.

’The unique approach to strengthening the local community as well as improving the self-esteem and understanding of those seeking help, has been developed here in the Isle of Man and recognised by this award.’

Quing’s community group meets on Thursdays from 10.30am-5pm at Cafe Laare, Lord Street, Douglas and is open to anyone to pop in for a chat, support and counselling.

Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan said: ’I want to congratulate Ralph for all his hard work to develop a recovery community in the island.

’Many of our political colleagues support charitable work but few have tackled such a challenging project.

’This award is testament to his quiet determination to help those recovering from addiction.’