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Message from Simon Rees, Chair of BasicNeeds:

I am pleased to announce that Chris Underhill, Founder Director of BasicNeeds has been awarded the esteemed Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2013.

The Skoll Award marks the significant contribution made by Chris to the field of global mental health through BasicNeeds, an international development charity that he founded in 1999. BasicNeeds works with mentally ill people across 12 countries through a holistic model to address community mental health, poverty and stigma. BasicNeeds has served more than 530,000 primary (mentally ill, caregivers) and secondary (other family members) beneficiaries

Each year from hundreds of applicants the Skoll Foundation, one of the leading foundations in the field of social entrepreneurship, presents the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship to a handful of social entrepreneurs after a rigorous and thorough application procedure.

The award will be presented to Chris and the others honoured during the Skoll World Forum in April next year in Oxford. I speak for all the trustees of BasicNeeds in noting that we are immensely proud of Chris for achieving this prestigious award. It is a reflection of his vision and unequivocal dedication to an immensely important cause. This award is not only validation of Chris' leadership, but also testament to the excellent work of our team globally.

Chris remarks: "I am extremely delighted and honoured to be a recipient of such a valued and respected Award. I am truly grateful to the Skoll Foundation for believing in me and in my mission of enabling people with mental illness and epilepsy to live and work successfully in their respective communities. I am looking forward to working closely with them in the near future. The Skoll Award is a legacy grant for me which allows me to establish BasicNeeds as a world leader in the field of community mental health practice." 

Please visit the Skoll Foundation website for more information on the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2013.