Wakefield World Mental Health Day event huge success!

TV personality Ian Clayton opened today’s successful World Mental Health Day celebrations outside Wakefield cathedral.

Speaking at the event, the local writer and broadcaster said, "Mental health is something I’m particularly interested in mainly because mental health issues are so close to us all. I think the most important thing about days like this is to get the message across to people affected by mental health issues that they are not on their own.

He continued, "One in four people will have a mental health problem in their life – so that means all of us will be affected in some way at some point in our lives. I don’t think mental health is the taboo, mystical subject that some people make it into"

Nesar Rafiq, chairperson of Wakefield District Partnership Cohesion Advisory Group said who has helped to organise the event said, "I think there’s been a real buzz about today’s event and it shows that despite the complex nature of mental health issues we can all come together to help break the stigma surrounding it."

Another organiser of the event, Jackson Lynn (patient advice and liaison worker) said, "It’s been a really unique event – we’ve had information stalls all the way down the precinct by the cathedral and we’ve had holistic therapies and arts and crafts activities that people have been getting involved in. There’s been a really good turn out!"