GFTU BGCM Minutes 2017

perhaps a pipe dream after years of savage cuts. I struggle to understand how

we got to a system which is so biased to physical health. Mental illness is that,

an illness, like any other and can be life threatening. Labour also want to

improve training, increase support for young people, focusing on early

intervention. They want everyone to be able to access talking therapy in 28

days and overhaul the unfair PIP assessment for work capability, so no

sanction targets and an improved work support programme.

My Shakespeare quote relating to mental health: “There is nothing either good

or bad, but thinking makes it so”. I would say, please, do come and talk to me

if you want to talk to me about anything that I have spoken about. It is

something that I am very passionate about and I urge you to please support

this motion. (Applause)

SIS CHRISTINE BOND (BECTU) seconded the motion.

She said: I am sorry to keep on popping up here, but I had to take the chance of this. In Ireland on 12 th July a young journal blogger named Dara Quigley

committed suicide. She had mental health issues and had been picked up

three days before by the Garda, the police, going naked through the streets.

Somehow the CCTV image that the garda could only access ended up on

Facebook and three days later she committed suicide. So obviously that is

raising a lot of issues. She was a young woman who friends of friends knew

and stuff like that. She was a young woman who had done self-medication.

There were serious mental health issues always, but she was struggling, she

was producing, she was creative and the State failed her in every single way,

so the more we can do things like this, the importance of it, the more we raise

it, everybody needs to just be aware of it, so, yes, of course, I support it.

(Applause)

BRO PAUL RAVEN (PFA): I am a first time speaker. (Applause) I have just

scribbled some notes, so forgive me, but, yes, we fully support the motion, of

course we do. There is never a more pertinent time than these last couple of

weeks when, of course, late one night about ten days ago the Everton

footballer Aaron Lennon was found wandering across the motorway barefooted

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