When I was first elected to Parliament 11 years ago, mental health remained largely a taboo subject. One of my first acts was to contribute to a book called ‘The Forgotten’, a collection of policy ideas by Conservative MPs first elected in 2005. I chose to write about mental health, specifically the need to tear down the stigma around depression what deters so many sufferers from seeking treatment.

One of the most heartening trends of the last decade has been a greater awareness of the need to put mental health on parity with physical health alongside greater efforts to break down the stigma that still exists.

Mental health remains a subject I am passionate about. That is why I am so pleased to see that Bracknell & Wokingham College in my constituency has recently gained government funding for a free adult community learning course named: Wellbeing in mind. The courses are aimed at adults experiencing mild to moderate mental health issues and will run from now until the end of June 2017.

For more information about eligibility and the details of the course please click here.

I hope that those affected with mental health challenges across the constituency will find this information useful and I would encourage anyone interested in taking part in the learning course to contact Bracknell and Wokingham College on 01344 868600 or email wellbeing@bracknell.ac.uk. 

ENDS

1.   In 2005 Adam Afriyie contributed a chapter about mental health to the book “The Forgotten” about how to tackle the stigma attached to mental health.

2.   Adam Afriyie has made mental health reform one of his priorities in Parliament due to its impact on social mobility, more of which can be found here.

3.   Adam Afriyie is the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Ghana.

4.   He has a strong background in science, technology and innovation.

5.   He is currently Chairman of the Fintech APPG, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) and President of the Conservative Technology Forum (CTF).

6.   He was shadow Minister for Science from 2007-2010 and has a background in the information services and technology sector.