A huge congratulations to Mandy Sanderson, who has been shortlisted for the Community Volunteer Award at the Carers UK Awards 2026
A huge congratulations to Mandy Sanderson!
Max Appeal is delighted that Mandy has been shortlisted for the Community Volunteer Award at the Carers UK Awards 2026!
This is wonderful and well-deserved recognition of Mandy’s dedication, compassion and commitment to supporting unpaid carers. Through her kindness, generosity and willingness to go the extra mile, Mandy has made a real and lasting difference to the lives of so many people.
We’re incredibly proud to see Mandy’s contribution recognised alongside so many inspiring individuals and organisations from across the UK. It’s fantastic to see the dedication of volunteers celebrated in this way.
Congratulations, Mandy, on this fantastic achievement! We’ll be cheering you on and wishing you the very best of luck at the awards!
Mandy is a carer for her eldest child, who has a rare genetic disorder called 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, which causes lifelong health and behavioural impacts, and has previously been a carer for her parent with Alzheimer’s.
Mandy volunteers in a number of different capacities to raise awareness of caring and provide hands-on support for carers. As Vice Chair of Max Appeal, the UK charity for 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, she provides strategic direction and leadership as well as directly supporting carers one-to-one. She organises community activities and events such as leading local family meet-ups and hosting regional events with children’s hospitals. She secured National Lottery grant funding for family days out in Scotland across 2026/2027.
Mandy volunteers in a number of other roles across the health and social care and third sector/ She is a Trustee and Safeguarding Lead for Amaze Sussex, a charity that supports parents and carers of children with disabilities and SEN across Sussex. Amaze Sussex won the Diversity and Inclusion Award at this year’s Sussex Chamber Business Awards.
As a volunteer mentor with the King’s Trust charity, Mandy supports young people to find work and succeed in the workplace.
Mandy also volunteers in a number of national and regional patient and public representative roles to raise awareness and embed carer experience in the development of health service practice and research. Mandy is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Institute of Health Research for health and social care workforce research and is a Public Advisor to the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Applied Research Collaborative.
Mandy is currently undertaking doctoral research focussing on parent-carer experiences of healthcare services for 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and won an award from the University of Bath in 2026 for commitment to real-world impact in her research. Mandy speaks at conferences and medical events to build professional networks and share/translate new research knowledge with the carer community.
Mandy has shown an outstanding commitment to community volunteering across organisations and roles this year: ranging from practical one-on-one support for carers through to leading successful organisations, whilst continuing to centre ‘carer voice’ across health and social care research, practice and partnerships.