Aloyse Raptopoulos

Aloyse Raptopoulos is a writer, musician and singer of African-French-Greek descent. She studied and lived in North and South America before moving to London in 2000, where she experienced a breakdown. A former service user she is now an independent trainer and consultant in mental health. Aloyse works with voluntary and statutory agencies in order to support service user involvement and empowerment, and she likes to contribute to people's vocational development through training. She is also a part-time lecturer at London South Bank University where she teaches principles of Recovery and Therapeutic Effectiveness to Mental Health Nursing and Social Care students. Her role as User Involvement coordinator in the Mental Health Department is enabling her to actively support and facilitate user involvement in higher education, which she believes is a very effective way to challenge discrimination.