Boris has a long way to go yet Improving mental health is a class act
Five schools chosen to take part in scheme
Westminster has seen a complete overhaul this week with the arrival of new Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Boris used to occupy a room downstairs from mine, but has now elevated himself straight to No10.
Since his arrival, he has been absolutely ruthless in culling Ministers and Secretaries of States, replacing Remainers with Brexiteers right‘across the board’. Shock waves were sent around the House of Commons with the quick secession and turnaround in Government.
My first questions to Boris as PM was in the Main Chamber this week, raising awareness of our Stay in East Kilbride Campaign.
It is crucial that we keep our skilled HMRC Centre One jobs in East Kilbride. Boris’first statement made the announcement that‘no town will be left behind’and we must hold him to his word and ensure that East Kilbride is protected.
He agreed that the Chancellor will look at the issue raised and write directly to me in the first instance.
I will be continuing to advocate for our constituency’s jobs and livelihoods at every opportunity.
As parliament finished for recess, I am proud to announce that I have been nominated for two awards of ‘Parliamentarian of the Year’one by the Patchwork Foundation and the other by Sense the Disability Charity.
The nominations are in relation to my work on disability across the UK, contribution to the new InclusiveTransport Strategy, our commons Inquiry on the Disability Employment Gap and my work on installing Changing Places Disability Toilets in public spaces.
I will keep you updated as to whether we bring these awards back to the constituency this year.
Also a fantastic update on Lucy’s Law, the campaign I launched in parliament in 2017 to ban puppy and kitten sales in pet shops and via third party dealers such as unscrupulous puppy farmers.
I am delighted that following from the announcement last month at Westminster via DEFRA that Lucy’s Law will become law in England that the Welsh Government have now also agreed to implement their own version of Lucy’s Law for Wales.
I am hopeful that the Scottish Government will progress with Lucy’s Law via their current consultation and am so pleased with progress, for the campaigners involved and for and the puppies and kittens and their mothers, whose welfare will now be protected.
To top off this brilliant news, our Campaign for Lucy’s Law won the ‘Campaign for Good Award 2019’which is great recognition of the work achieved.
Across the constituency, I was delighted to host a WASPI meeting in Lesmahagow for women affected by State Pensions Inequality, soon to be followed by a similar meeting in East Kilbride.
I had pop-up surgeries this month in Jackton and Thorntonhall in addition to my regular surgery times, in addition to a very successful coffee morning held in Lindsayfield at the local Morrisons.
My full-time MP Offices continue to be open Monday to Friday each week in East Kilbride and Strathaven for drop in appointments.
Alternatively, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on any local or national issue at lisa. cameron.mp@ parliament.uk ANDREA LAMBROU
Strathaven Academy has joined up with a leading mental health programme to tackle stigma and improve mental health for young people.
The school is one of five across Lanarkshire to be trained in Scottish Mental Health First Aid and See Me’s ‘What’s On Your Mind’ pack.
A total of 40 staff and 120 pupils will take part in the project in Strathaven Academy, Holy Cross High, Lanark Grammar, Cardinal Newman High and Coltness High.
Pupils and staff at the school were rocked last year following the death of 14-year-old Abbie MacDonald.
Now it is hoped the training can help pupils – and staff – recognise telltale signs of mental ill health in others, encouraging them to talk, open up, seek help or just let them know that they are there for support.
The ‘What’s On Your Mind’ pack is for young people and the adults in their lives to help build confidence in discussing mental health, look at the impact of stigma and discrimination, and how we can tackle it.
Teachers and pupils began training in May, and once it is complete, the staff and pupils will be able to take the pack back to teach in their schools, potentially reaching all 6197 pupils in the schools.
Getting young people to talk about mental health is a key focus for ‘See Me’.
A survey released as part of their FeelsFM campaign in September revealed that only 26 per cent of young people would tell someone they’re finding it difficult to cope, and 62 per cent thought that people are treated unfairly if they have a mental health condition.
See Me young volunteer Sally Nimmo, 24, said: “When I was in school we didn’t get anything on mental health – we didn’t know what mental health was.
“In PSE, mental health was disregarded, so I think this is really important to give the kids space to talk about things which they have maybe never spoken about before.
“The more opportunity you give young people, the more comfortable they become in speaking about it. I think getting young people to ask questions about suicide is really useful, because they probably will have never done that before, and it is a really useful skill to have.”
Rachel Bottomley, a development officer at Stigma Free Lanarkshire, said: “What struck me the most during this pilot project was the level of commitment and enthusiasm from everybody involved.”
Laura Sharpe, See Me’s education and young people manager, said: “Too many young people feel they can’t speak about how they are feeling,
Shock waves weresent aroundthe House of Commons...
often because they worry about being judged or dismissed.
“To help young people recover from mental health conditions they need to be able to speak about it, to get care and support quickly.
“So we are delighted that schools across Lanarkshire want to help equip adults and young people to have these important conversations on mental health and tackle the stigma which still exists.”
Find out more by visit seemescotland.org/young-people/.