Member Article

Merseyside Woman of the Year up for BAFTA

Current Merseyside Woman of the Year and Birkenhead-based mental health campaigner, Angela Samata, will tonight attend the BAFTA award ceremony as nominee in the prestigious ‘Single Documentary’ category, for her BBC programme Life After Suicide.

Former Walker Art Gallery employee, Angela, was named Merseyside Woman of the Year 2015 last June for her work chairing the Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS) group after her partner, Mark, took his own life 13 years ago.

She presented the BBC One documentary, which followed her across the UK as she visited others affected by suicide, to talk about her personal loss and try to understand the soaring levels of British men taking their own lives.

Angela’s powerful documentary had been nominated alongside Bitter Lake, Louis Theroux: Transgender Kids and My Son the Jihadi.

The event comes as Angela prepares to hand over the baton of ‘Merseyside Woman of the Year’, with the shortlist of categories and finalists due to be announced on Monday 16th May. The awards will this year take place on Friday 24th June at Crowne Plaza Liverpool, Waterside.

Ellie Kerr, one of the organisers of The Merseyside Women of the Year Awards, said: “We could not be more proud of Angela and all that she has achieved. Her documentary Life After Suicide is more than deserving of a BAFTA and the nomination is testament to her passion, bravery and hard work.

“The whole team at MWOTY, including our sponsors, supporters, winners and finalists from previous years will be cheering her on tomorrow night.”

Angela added: “It was such a privilege to make our film Life After Suicide. It wouldn’t have been possible without the huge team effort and such generous contributors. To be nominated for a BAFTA alongside other powerful documentaries is an incredible achievement.

“To win would of course be the perfect end to my year as Merseyside Woman of the Year, but just to be part of the event is an absolute honour.

“Regardless of the outcome tonight, I am sure that the nomination will raise further awareness of SOBS and Life After Suicide, which I hope continues to provide support and comfort to other people affected by suicide.”

SOBS now helps more than 7,000 people through 60 support groups across the country, including groups in Liverpool, Wirral and St.Helens.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nikki Girvan .