World Mental Health Day sees first Mayoral reception

Anna Ingram (from Morrisons) and I

World Mental Health Day 2016 saw the first Mayoral Reception in Southport Town Hall to mark that occaision . For me the day had begun as Neil Newton's guest on Sandgrounder Radio broadcasting from their new studios in Houghton Street. I was delighted Neil had me on to talk about mental health and he proved to be an informed and sympathetic interviewer. Their is still much work to do in combatting stigma concerning mental ill health and securing the appropriate resources to ensure that the necessary services are available.
My second port of call was to host a reception at the Town Hall. The focus of that gathering was employment and it was good that people seeking work , services providers and employers turned up. It was especially pleasing that Anna from Morrisons was their  sharing some important and relevant insights.

Neil and I at Sandgrounder radio

Imagine Independence run an employment service in Sefton which has attracted national acclaim. The staff team are led by Olga Snell who along with her team shared their experiences. It was clear that work needs to be done to with bodies representing occupational health specialists. There were reports of some very good people working in that area alongside some rather disturbing examples of failure to understand the type of reasonable adjustments and support people recovering from mental ill health might require. A second area of concern was the failure to provide support to small businesses. Across the region small businesses are important employers and many of them would welcome more information and support. A recent survey revealed that many employers would like to know more about successfully employing people recovering from mental ill health. about  Everyone attending I spoke to felt the event was worthwhile.

My thanks to the Town Hall staff for their support.