Mother’s aim to dispel mental health myths

A GRIEVING mother whose son killed himself following a desperate fight with mental illness is planning a series of events to raise mental health awareness.

Marie Creighton, 52, of Enfield Close, whose son James died aged 28 in 2009, is organising a ‘Young People's Mental Health Day’ in a bid to boost understanding of the condition and to highlight what support is available for sufferers and their family.

Marie Creighton, Jo Mayes, Rory Reynold, SEPT Specialist
Clinician and Mayor of Houghton Regis, Andrew Robert

Marie said: “I want to help dispel some of the myths surrounding mental health in young people, to remove the stigma so they’re not scared to talk about it.

James kept quite about his condition which made it worse, it was as if there was no support for him because he never opend up to anyone about how he was feeling.

We’re hoping to inform friends and family so they can be aware of a change in someone’s character and know what to do and who they can contact - it’s important to let everyone know what support sufferers can get.”
 
A poster campaign has also been launched aimed at attracting students from several schools to attend the event at the cricket pavilion in Houghton Regis on Monday, July 4.


Expert advice and information stalls will be on hand from some of UK’s leading mental health organisations including Mind and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation

Trust (SEPT).

A spokesperson for Mind said: “With one in four people likely to experience a mental health problem every year it is critical that we raise awareness and promote good mental health for the benefit of all members of society.”



Interview with Bridget Phillipson, MP Houghton & Sunderland South (click here for weblink)
 

BESIDES religion, politics has probably been the mechanism for more murder, mayhem and civil unrest than any other following known to man.

 

But even with such self-confessed cynicism, I still jumped at the chance to interview Bridget Phillipson, the new MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, when she offered.

 

And besides, she's part of a new generation no longer bound by the stern image of stuffy men, party spin and outlandish expenses sheets for duck ponds or tennis courts.

 

Born and raised by a single mum in a council house, she's the beneficiary of a first-class education (Hertford College, Oxford), who returned to her roots to run a charity refuge for women and children affected by domestic violence.

 

Her influences are inspired by strong female characters, particularly her mother and Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader.

 

And at 26 her career is by no means a fad; a party member since 15, she is one of the youngest parliamentarians and the first female MP in Sunderland for 80 years.

 

So what does it feel like to be young and female in Parliament, considering many of her constituents must be two or three generations older than her?

 

“What’s most important is that I’m a local candidate and being aware of local problems,” she says. “I hope I can reach out to people across the age range.”

 

And it was whilst on the campaign trail that she spearheaded her youthful vigour to convince voters that fresh blood needed to be pumped back into the town’s anaemic body.

 

“New MPs are bucking the trend, there are more young candidates and people from ethnic minorities.”

 

She tells me Labour is also working towards 50 percent of its members being female through their All Women Shortlists (AWS) – “A brave but unpopular solution to the lack of female representation in Parliament,” she says; and she should know – she was elected from an AWS.

 

It’s clear she sees AWS’s as pivotal to ensuring MPs are representative of the wider community.

 

It’s not that Bridget is a feminist; I sense she doesn’t see herself as young or female, rather someone who is ready to do the best for the people she represents - “I don’t think it’s particularly important as long as I can do the job.”

 

Bridget fighting for Sunderland in Parliment

So, it’s not age or sex which bothers her or the 19,000 voters who swept her to power. What’s more concerning, and you could probably fill Old Trafford with MPs who agree, is the fear of misrepresentation, particularly when careers can be made or mauled by the slip of a tongue.

 

An early lesson occurred before her election when she joined would-be candidates for a Grazia interview.

 

Surely the glossy fashion magazine offering beauty tips and celebrity gossip is not a normal publication for cold hard politics?

 

And Telegraph columnist Liz Hunt thought the same, calling the 16 interviewees ‘a bunch of misfits... blow-dried to the nth degree, bundled into high street fashion’.

 

Indeed. Hunt quotes Bridget as saying, “While women are judged in ways that men are not, it should be about what you can achieve, not about being glam or pretty," then condemning her for ‘posing prettily in a tight black dress with plunging neckline.’

 

“It was arranged to show young women who read Grazia that politics can be for them, that they can make a difference. As a politician people will have an opinion, you accept that.” She says, casting her dark brooding eyes over my copy of the article.

 

Perhaps it’s all just too much in this age of information and news saturation. Sites like Facebook, although a fine communication tool must be fraught with danger for the younger generation of politicos.

 

I ask if she worries people will put pictures of her on these sites stumbling out of nightclubs vomiting on the streets?

 

She nodded and smiled nervously.

 

“You’re never off duty, which is a strange adjustment to make, I use networking sites to raise the profile of what I’m doing, a lot of my constituents write to me using these sites.”

 

Which is fine, and in her short time in Parliament she’s already pulled off impressive results including securing confirmation that a £20m grant, given to Nissan by the previous Government to produce electric cars, would be honoured, creating thousands of jobs.

 

And in a recent Parliamentary debate she urged Tory Business Minister Ed Vaizey and his Government to invest in Sunderland’s software industry if the UK is to be ‘at the heart’ of the world’s future markets.

 

To be an MP you have to be a skilled orator, an excellent communicator dodging questions with the skill and dexterity of a limbo dancer. And Bridget has that ability.

 

But she also speaks with a passion which is not to be confused with the conformity of her party’s political agenda. On being elected she called it a ‘humbling experience.’

 

When you hear politicians on TV it’s easy to dismiss them as cynical but it’s harder to do so when you meet one that seems genuine.

 

Her efforts are an antidote to anyone growing up believing the only way to succeed is to marry a footballer or become a celebrity.

 

Her story is one of hard work and dedication who wasn’t born to privilege or wealth.

 

Whether it’s her youth or desire to empower women, or neither, there’s no denying her dedication to blow away ‘New Labour’ cobwebs and actually get to the heart of issues which concern her constituents.

 

Most of those issues are also important to us all. And bearing in mind the country’s woeful economic state, Bridget, along with the 350 rookie parliamentarians, know the hopes of our nation rests firmly on their shoulders. And for how they get on, only time will tell. 

Go! Leisure - weekly column

 
 
WITH obesity and well-being big issues at the moment, encouraging people to live active and healthy lifestyles is getting more topical by the day.
Now there’s no excuse to avoid the subject when the Take 3 4 Life event comes to Wardown Park.
Billed as Luton’s largest health and fitness gathering, the day will be packed with free activities from football, rounders, tennis, cycling, swimming, dance and self-defense.
Encouraging adults to be active is the Take 3 4 Life’s aim, but don’t be put off by that as the events are open to everyone – and as if to prove their point, the good old fashioned egg and spoon and 3-legged races are in place for the family challenge! 
Other events include It’s a Knockout, where people of all shapes and sizes are encouraged to enter a team of up to 12 members at a cost of £150 per group.
Health checks and a healthy eating demonstration will also be on offer.
For more information about the free events on Saturday, 12.15pm - 15.00pm in Wardown Park, call 01582 547319 or email karen.fletcher@luton.gov.uk 

With its mellow beats and spiritual messages, reggae music has had a big UK following since the heady days of Bob Marley and Desmond Dekker.
Get ready for a spectacular night of roots, ska and reggae at the Hat Factory with some of the most talented exponents of the modern-day scene dropping by.
First up is Winston Reedy, once voted best male vocalist by BBC Radio London for three years running!

Legend Dennis Alcapone, who has sung alongside all the Jamaican greats with an appearance list which reads like a who's who of reggae, follows.
Finishing of the all star performance will be DUBCATS, a band purporting peace, love and harmony with sublime dub/reggae beats.
So if you fancy the hypnotic effects of this wonderful music look no further than the Hat Factory tomorrow from 8pm to 11pm. Tickets cost £10, for more log onto www.thehatfactory.org or call 01582 878100
In the 1966 World Cup you only got a winner's medal if you played in the final - so you’d think Jimmy Greaves, who was left out of the team, might have a few choice words to say on the subject.
But not so, and proof can be found when one of football's best-loved characters takes you on a stroll down memory lane with an evening of stories and anecdotes from his colourful life.

With the World Cup a matter of weeks away, get into the spirit and join Jimmy with his irrepressible humour and wit, and special guest Sir Geoff Hurst for an evening of fun.
Tickets for The Grove Theatre show on Monday from 6.45pm, cost £19.50 or £21 and are available at the box office on 01582 602080 or online at www.grovetheatre.co.uk 
Park Town Community Centre is kicking of a new activity morning for children aged between four and seven on Saturday.
Get yourself down to the launch party and enjoy a bouncy castle, fun and games and an arts and craft event.
Every week will see a new project, from cookery lessons to days out, under the Every Child Matters scheme to improve education and safety – so it’s a great way for your little ones to learn life skills and experience interaction with others.

The Kid’s Klub starts at 10.30am every first and third Saturday of the month at Park Town Community Centre in Heswall Court, Bailey Street.

Each session cost £1, for more info call Vera McNamara on 01582 482957 or email vera.mcnamara@luton.gov.uk 

A heart wrenching, custard pie throwing, toe tapping musical - sounds good doesn’t it?
Mack and Mabel is the story of two movie legends who fall in love during their time spent making films in the pioneering days of early Hollywood.
With songs such as I Won’t Send Roses and Time Heals Everything, the Phoenix Players, with their love of musical theatre, are sure to deliver a great performance of this Broadway classic.
It’s curtain up tonight, but don’t worry there are still three other performances planned for tomorrow at 7.45pm and Saturday 2:30pm and 7.45pm  Tickets for the Luton Library Theatre show cost £9, with £8 concessions, find out more at www.lutonlibrarytheatre.co.uk

Jobs boost after developer wins supermarket planning appeal (click here for weblink)

MORE than 130 jobs could be created after controversial plans to open a supermarket store in Dunstable Road were approved.

Luton Borough Council’s decision to refuse permission for a foodstore at Madford Retail Park has been overturned on appeal, paving the way for an unknown retail giant to move in.

Cadbury Pension Trust, representing the national retailer, had applied to vary a stipulation which only permitted the sale of computer and office goods on the site.

The proposal had been rejected by the council last April citing claims that a supermarket would have a negative effect on local residents, traffic congestion and harm the vitality of nearby retail parks.

Flats bid is a 'monstrosity' (click here for weblink)

Story I researched from scratch and had published in Luton News