Ben Receives Top Prize in Priory Essay Competition

January 8, 2010 by SallyPreston

BEN RECEIVES TOP PRIZE IN PRIORY ESSAY COMPETITION

8/1/10

18-year-old Ben Porter from Kent has scooped the top prize in a national literary competition.

The Priory Ryan McKay prize is awarded each year to the young person who submits the best non-fiction composition on a set topic related to mental and physical health. The subject for 2009 entries was ‘happy with the skin you are in’ and judges deemed that 18-year old Ben Porter’s entry was worthy of the £1,000 top prize.

Ben drew from his own experiences to write emotively and eloquently about the issues facing young people suffering from eating disorders.

Ryan McKay was successfully treated at the Priory Hospital Glasgow for an eating disorder but tragically died in a car accident in August 2007. His parents, who live in Buckie, a small town between Aberdeen and Inverness, decided to honour his memory by working with the Priory Group to raise awareness of positive mental and physical health among young people, who are most at risk of eating disorders.

According to B-eat (previously the Eating Disorders Association), there are 1.15 million people suffering from diagnosed and undiagnosed eating disorders throughout the UK, with just 90,000 sufferers currently receiving treatment.

Priory specialist units treat all stages of eating disorders, including patients who are severely underweight and who might need specialist feeding. Priory consultants and therapists have provided thousands of eating disordered patients with the insight and courage they need to change, to maintain healthy bodies and relationships with food and to lead positive, fulfilled lives.

Matthew Franzidis, managing director of the Priory Group said: “Ben’s essay really touched everybody involved in the competition. He articulated his feelings about the pressures faced by young people and how he was personally affected extremely well and is a worthy winner of the Priory Ryan McKay prize.”

Ryan’s parents, Robert and Mandy McKay, were unable to attend the prize presentation but wrote Ben a heartfelt personal letter in which they said that “we would like you to know that we were delighted you won the prize as your essay captured our hearts. In your essay there were lots of similarities of Ryan’s illness so we were touched when you won.”

Ben said: “This has been difficult for me but I hope that by writing about my own experiences I can help other young people to understand that they are not alone.

“Robert and Mandy’s letter made me very proud and I would like to thank them and Priory for this great opportunity.”

Permalink