Support the mentally ill too

I was so pleased to read in The

News about the appeal for gifts for those in need at Christmas-time – Portsmouth people are lovely and I am sure there will be a good response.

Whilst I read that physically ill people in QA will have some cheer, what about the mentally ill people in Portsmouth? I asked at The Orchards at St James' Hospital whether their unit was included in this 'giving cheer' – they said as far as they knew they were not.

Although the main building at St James no longer has patients, there are units on St James' land that does.

One unit is The Orchards (for those aged between 18 and 65) which has two wards – Maple, a locked ward for those very ill, sometimes sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and Hawthorn for those recovering.

I run a group Compass Carers Support Group (for those families and friends caring for someone with a mental health problem).

We support The Orchards all year around. At Christmas we make up lovely special bags of gifts for those mentally ill, who have no family/ friend/visitor or carer, and also put goodies on festive tables for all the patients to enjoy.

Having a mental illness is so sad, sometimes the person does not want to know their family or friends, quite often society does not want to know them. I speak from experience as a mother of a son with schizophrenia.

Often he is not included, shown kindness or love by those near to him. Carers in my group often tell me this is their experience also. If anyone would like to 'send cheer' to those who are mentally ill this Christmas, you can pop donations/gifts into the reception at The Orchards, which is at the end of Locksway Road, Milton on the left, or, Katy, the lovely receptionist at The Carers Centre (117 Orchard Road, Southsea (opposite Lidl's car park) has a box in the foyer for donations for this cause.

If I have gifts left I give to the mental health teams in Portsmouth for them to take to their vulnerable clients in the community.

Please remember the mentally ill as well as the physically ill at Christmas-time. They are OUR people also.

Thelma Turner-Hill Lightfoot Lawn, Southsea