Having handed the petition into 10 Downing Street last month, we are eagerly awaiting confirmation that this will be debated in Parliament and when. To keep the pressure on to bring about change, my team and I have been working hard to have more politicians join the campaign. This petition is now supported by:
- Nicola Sturgeon MSP, First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP who told us “Learning in Health and wellbeing should give children and young people the knowledge and understanding, skills, capabilities and attributes which they need for mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing and we are currently undertaking a national review of Personal and Social Education which will report at the end of this year.”
- Leanne Wood, former Plaid Cymru Leader and Rhondda AM who told us “I support plans to for mental health education/awareness to be taught in schools in Wales where education is devolved. I have spoken to teachers who tell me that demand for mental health support for pupils is growing and that services are not coping with that demand.”
- Shabana Mahmood MP of Birmingham Ladywood with Labour who will be providing us with a video endorsement shortly.
- Liz Saville Roberts MP of Dwyfor Meirionnydd with Plaid Cymru who told us “every single person will be affected by mental health problems, either directly or through someone they love. I am proud to support Mental Podcast with this campaign, because I believe it is vital that education is the key to breaking the stigma around mental health, so no one has to suffer alone.”
- Richard Benyon MP of Newbury with The Conservative Party.
If you believe your local MP would also support this please email me at mentalpodcast@icloud.com or to view a full list of support so far Click Here
Lastly, we have just started fundraising so we can us to continue working on this until all UK schools have mental health education as part of their teaching whilst also working to reduce stigma through our weekly podcast. Please consider chipping in here
We have also been delighted to see the Mental Health Foundation taking up this cause and are already in talks with them on how to best work together to make change happen.
Many thanks, Bobby Temps
Host of ‘Mental - The Podcast to Destigmatise Mental Health’