Published on: 12 October 2026
In the run-up to Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s annual awards for staff and volunteers, the HEARTS Awards, the Trust will be spotlighting an inspiring person, team or service from each award category whose work is making a positive difference.
Our first spotlight is volunteer Sally (known to most as Sally B), founder of The Slow Girls Walk Club in Chapel-en-le-Frith and a nominee in the Rising Star Award category, which is sponsored by Browne Jacobson - a UK and Ireland law firm working across business and society, with specialist expertise in the health sector.
Sally volunteers as a recovery connector with Derbyshire Recovery Partnership, the county’s drug and alcohol support service. In just over a year, Sally has turned a simple personal idea into a thriving High Peak community initiative that brings women together through gentle walks, conversation and mutual support.
During its first year, the club completed 126 walks, covering around 262 miles and providing 153 hours of conversation. It welcomed 94 women, ranging from their early twenties to their eighties, as well as children and dogs. Sally also secured donated high-visibility jackets, caps and socks to help keep walkers safe and visible.
Alongside the walks, Sally runs informal ‘chats on the bench’, offering people an open invitation to sit and talk without an appointment or pressure. She also organises social sessions on different topics, invites expert speakers and hosts online recovery meetings for Derbyshire partners. Through these activities, she has supported 80 people through bench conversations and welcomed 210 attendees to social events.
Sally brings her own lived experience of mental health challenges, addiction recovery and ongoing health issues to her work. She has completed more than 300 hours of self-funded training in mental health awareness, safeguarding, substance misuse and suicide prevention. She is also an expert by experience with Mental Health Together.
The HEARTS Awards nomination for Sally praised her ability to turn personal adversity into practical community support and to bring together residents, charities and statutory partners. In August 2026, Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner and Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner made a surprise visit to mark the club’s first anniversary, reflecting Sally’s wider work on women’s health, safety and suicide prevention.
Amy Wild, founder of Silvia Health - a digital health platform that supports clinicians to deliver more structured and consistent menopause care, who nominated Sally, said: “None of this is Sally’s job, yet she uses her lived experience to bring together residents, charities and statutory partners and support her whole community. That combination of personal experience and genuine collaboration makes her a true rising star.”
Sally’s story reflects the purpose of the Rising Star Award, which celebrates people who are new to the NHS or their profession and are already making exceptional and ambitious contributions to services and communities.
Further HEARTS Awards 2026 spotlights will be shared in the lead up to the awards, celebrating individuals and teams across each category who embody the Trust’s values and make a difference to the people and communities they support.
The HEARTS Awards ceremony will take place on 21 October, when the winners will be announced.
