You Don't Know What You've Got 'Till It's Gone.
In my last post I spoke about a new direction for this blog, but as I have some sad news to relay concerning mental health, I will be returning to my main topic, at least for this post. And, the sad news is that the local mental health charity that I worked for voluntarily for over five years has now closed. The Media Action Group for Mental Health closed its doors for the last time on 28th March 2013. The group began in December 2000, and developed as an independent user-led charity with a remit to promote positive perceptions and awareness of mental health issues by working with the media in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. Indeed, when I joined the group as a volunteer in 2007, we were taught how to interact in a positive way with the media as part of the group's "Talkbank" project. Many letters of protest were written, many interviews given, and as part of our training we even got to go to Staffordshire University where we made short films about mental health