Ranil Jayawardena attended an event held by Mind earlier this week. Mind are a mental health charity for England and Wales that provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.
Ranil said: ‘I was glad Mind gave me the chance to talk to people from the South East in Parliament about how we can improve mental health services in North East Hampshire. A lot of people were saying the first step to do this is to talk about mental health openly, in schools, the work place, and at home. I’m looking forward to working with suffers to find ways of doing this, to ensure that no one is stereotyped or stigmatised. I also spoke to the CEO of Mind, Paul Farmer (pictured), about what MPs can do to help in Parliament’
Louise Rubin, Parliamentary Manager at Mind, said: ‘Supporting constituents with mental health problems is one of the biggest challenges an MP faces today, so we were really delighted to see Ranil at our event this week. Every year, mental health problems will affect one in four people in their constituency, which is more people than will develop heart disease or cancer. Much of the power to make a difference now sits with local decisions makers so MPs play a vital role in securing good quality support for people in their constituency, as well as promoting mental health at a national level.’