Henry Smith, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Crawley, has given his backing to a new mental health programme launched at the Checkatrade.com Stadium in Broadfield this week (Wednesday, 10th May).
'Move the Goalposts', organised by the Crawley Town Community Foundation, is an initiative for local residents who are at risk of, or are experiencing, ill mental health.
Henry said;
“I’m delighted to support the Crawley Town Community Foundation’s Move the Goalposts emotional wellbeing initiative.
“Each week participants will take part in activities to improve their employability and confidence, social time, and physical exercise through playing football on the community 3G Ball Court.
“I was grateful for the opportunity to speak with Community Foundation staff about their vision for this project. Where possible, participants can also be supported into work placement opportunities.
“The Community Foundation will be looking to set up football fixtures and tournaments against teams from other Football League and Premier League clubs, where people taking part can have the opportunity to represent Crawley Town in competitions if they’d like to.
“If you’d like to take part, or if you can help the running of the programme through donating either funding or time, please do get in touch with the Community Foundation.”
Sessions will take place at the Checkatrade.com Stadium starting next Wednesday 17th May, from 2pm to 5pm.
The programme is being offered by the Community Foundation as a result of funding from Crawley Wellbeing, LPK Learning and Tesco Bags of Help.
Speaking on the Prime Minister’s recent announcement that a Conservative Government will change the law to help ensure those suffering from mental health problems get the care they deserve, Henry said;
“It’s right that the Government are giving mental health parity with physical health. This is an issue I’ve raised in the House of Commons when I was Crawley MP and is a cause I’ll continue to pursue.
“Last week the Prime Minister spoke about the importance of continuing this work. Theresa May has pledged that a Conservative Government will introduce new policies to transform the way we deal with mental health problems as part of our plan to build a fairer society.
“This includes more protection at work for those suffering from mental health issues, to help alleviate discrimination. The Equalities Act will be amended to protect people with mental disorders from discrimination at work, and Health and Safety at Work regulation will be reformed to take mental and physical health risks into account. First aid and needs assessments at work will be required to factor in mental health risks, and large organisations will be required to train mental health first aid responders.
“While the Conservative Government have invested around £11.7 billion a year on mental health, and the first ever waiting times for mental health treatment have been introduced there’s more work to be done."
