- Area:
- Wales
- Programme:
- Mental Health Matters
- Release date:
- 7 8 2007
“A golden opportunity” is how Caernarfon MP Hywel Williams is today describing the potential to develop a quality service for people with mental health problems in Wales. Adding that it has to be an equal service “for Welsh and English speakers alike.”
He’s been speaking in support of the Big Lottery Fund’s campaign to raise awareness about mental health issues in Wales, which is to make its presence felt at the National Eisteddfod.
Held in Flintshire from August 4- 11, the National Eisteddfod of Wales is the latest stop on the Big Lottery Fund’s More than a Number campaign, which aims to raise awareness about mental health issues in Wales. BIG also launched a £15 million Mental Health Matters programme earlier this year.
A special event to celebrate the More than a Number campaign will be held at the Lottery Funding in Wales stand at 11:00am on Tuesday August 7. Caernarfon MP, Hywel Williams, who is a strong advocate of mental health issues, will be joining speakers from BIG as well as mental health organisations, Hafal and Mind Cymru, to highlight the campaign. BIG will be working in partnership with both Hafal and Mind Cymru to highlight the provision of mental health services in the Welsh language.
In a show of support for the campaign and airing his hopes for the future of mental health provision in Wales, Caernarfon MP, Hywel Williams, said: “There is a golden opportunity in front of us to develop a quality service for people with mental health problems in Wales. The Big Lottery Fund has the Mental Health Matters programme and a new Mental Health Act was passed this year, which provides the Welsh Assembly with the power to react positively and ensure that there is an adequate service available in every part of Wales, in both Welsh and English.”
He added: “I welcome the Big Lottery Fund’s More than a Number campaign as a vehicle to raise people’s awareness about mental health problems in Wales.”
Statistics show that one in four adults will have mental health problems at some time in their lives and one in ten children will need professional help for a mental health disorder. That’s why the BIG decided to take to the road with its More than a Number campaign, which began at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Carmarthenshire back in May. The event was specifically used to focus and highlight how mental health problems impact young people in Wales. With farming identified as one of the occupations most at risk of suicide, BIG also launched a major piece of rural research work at the Royal Show in July, with the long-term aim of improving the lives of people with mental health problems in rural parts of Wales.
Commenting on the More than a Number campaign, Barbara Wilding, Big Lottery Fund Wales Committee Member and Chair of the Mental Health Matters Committee, said: “The condition of people with mental health problems is often made worse by the stigma, lack of understanding and the discrimination they face daily. I hope this campaign has managed to eradicate many of those views. The key issue that concerns us is how to make contact with those in distress and more precisely, how to persuade people in crisis to reach out for help.”
She added: “Whether it’s supporting projects that improve services in rural communities or initiatives that offer more advice and support for young and old alike, the main aim of our Mental Health Matters programme is to support people with serious mental health problems to live fulfilling lives in their communities and reduce incidence of relapse or crises.”
Further information
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 02920 678 207
Out of hours contact: 07760 171 431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102 030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
- In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £1 million a week in Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
- The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004.
- On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The. Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money.
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