Volunteer retiring after helping thousands of people in Uganda with their mental health

3 April 2025

A volunteer who was a driving force behind a partnership to improve mental health support in the Gulu region of Uganda is retiring after 19 years in the role.

When Greg Harrison first went to the east-African country he had no idea that by 2025 he would have visited 14 times and been at the very forefront of our work in the region. That first visit in 2006 was by a delegation of our staff.

And since then he has, with local partners, supported the Gulu-Sheffield Partnership to make a real difference to the mental health of thousands of people.

Greg, who was working as a manager in mental health services at the time, first visited the country with other colleagues to see what potential there may be for a two-way partnership.

Initial efforts focused on the Adjuami region of Uganda. When visiting there our staff including Greg had to fly in a small plane and then travel for hours on unmade roads to ensure their safe arrival, avoiding the Lord’s Resistance Army who were fighting the Ugandan government. 

The decision was taken not to pursue that particular initiative but we used the lessons from that work to jointly form the Gulu-Sheffield Mental Health Partnership in 2012.

Since then Greg hasn’t looked back, with the partnership helping with the development of mental health support in the area. 

And we have benefitted from the experience and expertise of sharing information with mental health colleagues in Uganda which has been used to directly improve the care offered by the Trust to the people of Sheffield.

Greg retired from his ‘day job’ with SHSC in 2017 but remained as a volunteer as the joint Sheffield lead for the partnership.

Successes of the partnership include:

  • Hundreds of people in Gulu, both staff and people in the community, have benefited directly from training courses in a variety of mental health related issues including suicide awareness and prevention, epilepsy awareness and psychosocial support
  • Running a suicide awareness course for students at Gulu University, in response to the high rate of suicide amongst students
  • The opening of a children’s ward in the mental health unit at the Gulu Regional Referral Hospital (GRRH)
  • The creation of a medical library in GRRH which is now sustainably managed by GRRH and supported by a UK based group, Book Aid International (BAI), with initial grants from both BAI and Sheffield Hallam University
  • Funding four annual 10K runs in Gulu, which have been very effective ways to spread positive messages about mental health
  • Funding the building of a community health centre in Abwoch, which is an isolated area outside Gulu. This centre is now operated sustainably, for the benefit of the community, by the local council
  • Funding a number of infrastructure projects in GRRH, ranging from water access into the mental health unit and maternity ward to incinerator repairs in the hospital
  • A sustainable mentoring project between GRRH and SHSC staff
  • The Commonwealth Fellowship scheme which has seen 30 colleagues from Gulu and 30 colleagues from Sheffield visit the other country to develop quality improvement projects which have contributed to an enhanced service user experience
  • Creating the registered charity, Sheffield Health International Partnerships (SHIP), through which many SHSC staff have generously contributed towards projects in Gulu

Speaking about his work, Greg said: “I have always had an interest in working with different communities in both the UK and low-income countries and had a global connection in terms of mental health support.

“Communities in Sheffield provide a rich cultural mix and the connections between the wide range of groups in the city and an international health partnership are very strong.

“The partnership has made a fantastic contribution towards the changing of attitudes in Gulu about mental health.

“This is an ongoing process, as it is in the UK, and has been achieved by being in partnership with a number of organisations.”

Hear from Greg about some of the work he has done with the Gulu-Sheffield Mental Health Partnership and how it has helped to make a difference - in Uganda and for service users in Sheffield:

Kim Parker, a senior nurse and culture of care lead, has been by Greg’s side for much of the work he has done.

Kim will continue as sole Sheffield lead for the Gulu partnership.

Greg officially retires from his role on 30 April but will continue to work to improve mental health services by delivering training in mental health awareness for the Samaritans and mental health awareness and suicide awareness for the Sheffield S6 food banks.

Greg uses the material developed in Gulu with these Sheffield groups.

No NHS funds have been used in delivering any of the work of the partnership.

Funds have instead come from a number of generous organisations, including:

  • Global Health Partnerships (formerly the Tropical Health Education Trust)
  • Commonwealth Fellowship Programme
  • Sheffield Health International Partnerships
  • Book Aid international
  • Sheffield Hallam University
  • Sheffield Hospitals Charity

Kim Parker said: “Greg and I have worked together on a number of projects for ethnically diverse patients over the years and so in 2010 when he asked me if I would be interested to go to Uganda it was with a mix of intrigue and shock.

“I remember feeling rather stunned at the opportunity but Greg was very confident having been to Uganda previously. Greg spent the next two years building an infrastructure that led the beginning of the patient safety partnership and commonwealth fellowship scheme in 2012.

“In the 12 years of the partnership we have inevitably had highs and lows. Low points have definitely been the number of people we have met who have lost loved ones often from what we would consider to be preventable illness.

“Highs have been the lasting friendships we have forged, realising how so much can be achieved with so little and on several occasions having babies named after us.

“Greg’s greatest strength in the partnership has been his unwavering ability to be positive in the face of adversity which on many occasions over the last 12 years has been significant. Greg will also do anything for anyone and will go out of his way to help if he can. I was always very grateful for his application and report writing skills and his ability to make something from not very much. Over the years we have played to each other’s strengths and complimented each other well and it’s difficult to imagine the partnership without him.

“The partnership will continue and I hope that a grant opportunity will come along that will engage a new generation of staff involvement in the trust.”

Thank you Greg.

Click here to find out more about the Gulu-Sheffield Mental Health Partnership.