HUSBAND and wife councillors Roy and Liz Smith are to urge Warrington Borough Council to give its backing to a campaign to stamp out the stigma attached to mental ill-health and learning disability.
The two Liberal Democrat councillors are putting a motion to next week’s meeting of the council seeking support for the “Sticks and Stones” campaign launched by 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust – the body responsible for mental health in the Warrington area.
Their motion recognises that one in four people will experience mental ill health in the course of a year and that two per cent of the population have a learning disability.
In particular, the motion endorses a corporate pledge of support to the campaign by the council, encourages all councillors to sign a petition aiming for 100,000 names by the end of the year, urges members to challenge the use of discriminatory words and phrases and raise awareness of the issue among the public.
The 5 Boroughs Trust wants to collect 100,000 pledges to stamp out stigma to send out a clear message that society should not hurt people with mental illness and learning disabilities by calling them names that are offensive.
They already have the support of a number of celebrities including Stephen Fry, Frank Bruno, Phil Neville, Alastair Campbell, Andy Burnham, Marcus Trescothick and Marian Keyes.
Sports clubs including Warrington Wolves, Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Wigan Athletic and Everton are also backing the campaign.
More details of the campaign are available at the campaign website www.stampoutstigma.co.uk.
