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West Lothian’s massive second annual Mental Health Day event took place in Broxburn earlier this month. It brought together over 50 organisations under one roof at the Strathbrock Partnership Centre, in the town’s West Main St on Friday, October 10. It was resounding success, highlighting the raft of organisations that are able to provide vital support to communities across the local authority area. It brought together NHS and community services as well as charity organisations who are tackling all sorts of mental health issues. Among those present on the day were; Neil’s Hugs Foundation, Perinatal Mental Health Team, West Lothian Drug & Alcohol Service, Carers of West Lothian, Bipolar Scotland, The Scheme, CAMHS, Gregor Poynton MP for the Livingston constituency was among those who visited the event on the day. Organiser Lyndsey Wood, an NHS Community Mental Health Team Leader, said: “We used to have a mental health day event years ago, which kind of fell away. “People often complain that there’s no access to services, and that they don’t know where to reach out for help. The idea was that we would bring statutory and voluntary services together under one roof. “It’s quite rare, although they do similar things they are never in the same room. We tried to bring as many as possible and had over 50 organisations, ranging from the most complex NHS teams right down to everything that’s charitable and voluntary - all in relation to mental health and wellbeing. It’s the biggest in central Scotland. “There’s a lot of referrals for NHS services that come in to primary and secondary care that could probably sit in third-sector where people don’t have to sit on waiting lists. It’s about us all gaining a better understanding of what resources are out there. “It was a really good networking event and open to the public. “Next year we’re hoping to get some investment and make it even bigger. This year there was one or two organisations that we had to say, ‘Sorry, we don’t have enough space’”. Don't miss the latest news from the West Lothian Courier. Sign up to our free newsletter here .
