Congratulations to Professor Matt Ashton, Director of Public Health for Liverpool, who has been awarded the President’s Medal by the President of the Faculty of Public Health for Outstanding Service to Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As an organisation, the Faculty – which has 4,000 professional members worldwide – aims to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities and national populations.
Matt, who leads a team of 30 people, covering a range of public health activities including the commissioning of public health services, health protection and health improvement, says he is “proud and humbled” to receive the award.
Speaking about this award, Matt said:
“I am delighted to have received this award. I am very proud of the way Liverpool has come together as a community to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I want to thank each and every one of my colleagues for their commitment and for working tirelessly through such a challenging time. This award recognises the joint efforts of all my colleagues involved in public health and wider COVID response and recovery over the past 18 months.”
While working to keep his community in Liverpool safe, Matt has also supported the Collaborative throughout the pandemic, developing vital campaigns like Kind to Your Mind and Spread the Facts. He has also played a key role in the subregion’s approach to SMART (systematic, meaningful, asymptomatic and agile, repeated testing) testing, has worked with partners on strategic intelligence and has been closely involved in promoting vaccine update.
Matt is passionate about improving health and wellbeing and reducing inequalities in the local communities. He leads on Strategic Intelligence and Research, Communications, Social Marketing, and Strategic Partnerships for the Collaborative and is also the Programme Director for the Liverpool Health Partners Live Well programme, and the lead Director of Public Health for the Liverpool City Region Violence Reduction Partnership, and for Food Active.