Okehampton and North Dartmoor Mental Health Charter Launch

Cllrs Lynn Daniel and Allenton Fisher speak on the launch of the Mental Health Charter in Okehampton.

Transcript

00:00So welcome everyone and thanks for attending the opening event for the Mental Health Charter

00:06for Oakhampton and North Devon. It's been inaugurated by Community Links Charity

00:12and as Mayor of West Devon I gave Community Links my Mayor's Recognition Award for their

00:17invaluable contribution and work and this charter is another initiative to be proud of.

00:24I'm a former mental health social worker myself and I know how difficult it can be for people to

00:29find support and friendship that they need in times of difficulties. Support's vital to aid

00:35recovery and for people to thrive again. We know NHS services are hugely stretched and only the

00:42most urgent situations are eligible for ongoing support. There are often long waiting lists for

00:49those in mental health difficulty and many people struggle alone with their issues and this can also

00:55impact those around them, for example family, employers or employees, friends and carers.

01:02So the Mental Health Charter will provide a source of support and guidance

01:07to alleviate some of these mental health issues and I'm so pleased to be asked to introduce the

01:13Mental Health Charter. It'll be a real asset for our community and I'd like to ask Mayor

01:20O'Canton, Alison Fisher to now say a few words. I was asked to say a few words just not long ago

01:27was it? I don't profess to be an expert on this but anyway thank you for inviting me. I do obviously

01:35support it. Mental health, what do I know about it? Not a lot but I think we're now getting to

01:41the stage where mental health like physical health, people talk about it, about time as well.

01:45It really is about time but are they recognised as the same? I don't think so, not yet.

01:52You break a leg, you have a rash or your staff come in feeling down, you know what to do.

02:00It's not quite the same with mental health and we have to be trained on it and that's what

02:04tonight really is all about. It's just not so easy. Is there openness? No there isn't. People

02:11are a little bit frightened to tell you about it and you're perhaps even not prepared to ask

02:18what's the matter when you know there's something not quite right. By understanding more we'll have

02:25much better businesses, groups, societies, most important if you're a businessman, customers.

02:32Because if you can understand mental health or things that are going on in it, anxiety and that

02:38sort of thing and your customers can understand, they're going to come to your shop more often

02:44and so that's very important. I had to smile, I've read the charter a couple of times

02:50and it suggests that clear communication and wording should be good so people understand it.

02:56Well I've got to take a lesson from that because councillors and civil servants are the worst in

02:59the world for making it so you can't understand it. So I would like all businesses and organisations

03:09like Rotary and Inner Wheel and WI and all those to actually do the course.

03:16It would help enormously if a number of us did the course and please embrace the charter

03:23and I'm a person to undertake this course. It obviously makes sense. Study the leaflet which is

03:30can't study quite a bit and let's get people trained. Thank you for inviting me.