By Michael Thompson, Chaplain
As part of our school involvement with Tyne & Wear Citizens, at the start of May four of our students took part in a Citizens Commission on Mental Health. It was a grand affair at the Mining Institute in Newcastle, and the students got a chance to listen to testimonies who typified issues with mental health services in our area. The Commission had key public figures including Catherine McKinnell, MP on the panel and the audience was made up of important people in local politics and healthcare. It was a fantastic day!
On Thursday morning, we had the pleasure of welcoming Richard Moss from the BBC into school to interview the four students who took part to talk about their experiences, why they got involved and what they hoped would come from the commission which is focused on solutions and not mapping out problems.
The piece was shown on Sunday Politics on Sunday 20th May. See below for a link to the BBC IPlayer, which will be available until 19th June. The piece starts at 42 minutes 30 seconds:
The students involved are Luke Haughey, Rebecca Crow, Emma Malcolm and Bethanie Ashton Smith. If you have any questions or want to know anything more about the Mental Health Commission, please do ask the students. Alternatively speak to Orlean our school counseller, Miss Camsell in Art, Mr Merchant in RE or myself, as we’ve all been involved in some way over the last few months.