Blair’s former spin doctor backs Mail’s mental health campaign

A HIGH-PROFILE mental health campaigner and former political aide has backed the Evening Mail’s newly-launched Healthy Young Minds campaign.

Writer, journalist and commentator Alastair Campbell – who has been open about his struggle to overcome depression – has given his support for the drive to improve mental health services for children and teenagers in the area.

The former adviser to past prime minister Tony Blair said more focus and attention must be drawn to the “serious issue” of mental illness as it becomes more and more prevalent in society.

The 58-year-old father-of-three added he hopes the Healthy Young Minds campaign will help highlight the need to ensure adequate support is available for children and young people across south Cumbria suffering from emotional distress and behavioural conditions.

Mr Campbell said: “I would like to express my support for the NWEM’s Healthy Young Minds campaign.

“The good news about mental health is that there is more debate and media coverage about it.

“The bad news is that services are falling behind and the growing understanding of the need that many young people have for help and support.

“It is only by keeping the focus on the need for such support that we will be able to win the argument with policy makers and others that investing in support for young people’s mental health is right for them and right for the country as a whole.”

The Healthy Young Minds campaign was launched after a series of flaws in services available in the area were revealed.

The Evening Mail found spending on Cumbria’s Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services dropped by £500,000 last year amid rocketing numbers of referrals and lengthy waiting times for appointments with child mental health specialists.

It has already garnered the support of the area’s three MPs; Barrow and Furness representative John Woodcock, Copeland’s Jamie Reed, Labour’s shadow health minister, and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, as well as UK charity the National Autistic Society.

Speaking of the deaths of talented musician and former Windermere School pupil Helena Farrell, 15, who was found hanged in woods near her Kendal home in 2013, and 10-year-old Harry Hucknall, from Dalton, who was found hanged in his bedroom in 2010, Mr Campbell added: “I know that your area has seen some particularly tragic suicides involving young people in recent years.

“Suicide is now the biggest killer of young men in the country, more than road accidents or cancer.

“This is how serious the issue is and why, as an ambassador for the Time to Change campaign, I am happy to back your own campaign.

“I wish you well, hope that you continue to draw attention to this important issue and as a result have a direct and positive impact on services and understanding in your area.”