More funding agreed to support Carlisle Eden Mind after councillor shares personal mental health struggle

An amendment to Carlisle City Council's budget proposed by Labour councillor Lisa Brown was unanimously accepted by council members on Tuesday evening, as Mrs Brown spoke honestly about her own recent mental health struggles.

The amendment called for £15,000, coming from next year's Covid-19-related funding coming from central Government, to be provided to Carlisle Eden Mind, as the charity looks towards a possible expansion of its Lighthouse crisis support service in the face of rising demand from residents.

While the amendment was not opposed by any council member, Conservative councillors urged Mrs Brown to withdraw the motion, arguing that more money could be secured faster for mental health charities in Carlisle if leader John Mallinson sought to work in partnership with Cumbria County Council on the issue.

Mrs Brown is one of the founders of the Carlisle Community Help group, which has played a key role in providing food to local residents most in need throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Admitting she was "terrified" to share her personal experience with the council, Mrs Brown revealed to fellow members that her mental health has been put under profound strain by the events of the past year.

"I've suffered with depression and anxiety for most of my life," Mrs Brown said.

"I've been lucky in having a good supportive family, and I've been lucky in being able to get help."

Mrs Brown said that in the past year, she has worked herself "to the bone with the community help group, trying to get millions of food parcels out to kids, to people who really needed help.

"The rug's been pulled out from underneath them, because of this crisis."

In October, Mrs Brown's mental health began to "deteriorate", she explained.

"I crashed", she said. "I ended up going to hospital."

"They gave me some tablets, they sent me home and gave me a referral to First Step," the local NHS mental health support service.

"A couple of months later I had my talk with them. They recommended that we do Cognitive Behavioural Therapy," Mrs Brown said.

"But unfortunately, because of the waiting list, that is going to be about three or four months.

"Now I'm faced with finding as much help as I can online, and through places like Carlisle Eden Mind."

Mrs Brown stressed that she is far from alone in having suffered recently. Many of the individuals she comes into contact with, as a councillor and through her work with Carlisle Community Help, are "going through a terrible time".

"Some of them have people to turn to. Some of them have nobody.

"I've heard, with my own ears, people actually wishing that they werent' here anymore.

"It's just horrendous. It's like nothing else we've been through in our lives before."

"In every community meeting I have sat in, everybody is terrified about the secondary impact of coronavirus being a mental health crisis.

"There's a mental health crisis coming like a perfect storm."

Carlisle City Council's Conservative leader John Mallinson thanked Mrs Brown for sharing her personal experiences.

"It was obviously very, very difficult for you," he said.

"I think we're privileged in this council to hear some very brave speeches from time to time, and this was one of them."

Mr Mallinson said that he "fully supported the sentiment" of the proposed amendment, he voiced concern at the prospect of the council singling out for help one of the numerous local charities engaged in supporting people's mental health.

He also added that in the past year, the council has jointly supported a number of local charities and groups with the county council, providing greater overall levels of funding.

Mr Mallinson suggested that Mrs Brown withdrew her motion so as to allow him to approach the county council and others on the possibility of jointly providing greater levels of funding to more local mental health charities.

Labour group leader Colin Glover welcomed the commitment from Mr Mallinson to "look at this further", but stressed that they were keen to prioritise support for Carlisle Eden Mind because of its role in providing crisis support.

Mr Glover explained that "Carlisle Eden Mind is taking referrals from statutory agencies because the waiting list and demand on those agencies is so high.

"Currently the Lighthouse service operates 5pm until 11pm. The demand is now so great, they are looking at expanding that into daytime, so that they can meet people in crisis.

"These are people who don't know where to turn. They are really struggling on a day-to-day basis, and the demand is increasing all the time."

Mr Glover added that providing this funding to Carlisle Eden Mind "doesn't stop the council funding others, nor does it stop the council giving more than £15,000 if it so wishes.

"The ability of Carlisle Eden Mind to raise funds is signficantly down, at a time when as a result of the pandemic, their demands are significantly higher," he added

"This is not something we can put on the back burner. This is about people in crisis."

Labour Councillor Jeanette Whalen, who seconded the amendment, also drew on personal experience to argue the vital need for providng support to Carlisle Eden Mind.

"Carlisle Eden Mind have been giving people who are suicidal the hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

"They are angels. They're there to listen and understand."

"They're the ones who the statutory practitioners are referring to.

"When I was poorly, it was my doctor who referred me to them, because I couldn't go to the normal places that would be able to help me, because the list was just far too long."

Conservative deputy council leader Gareth Ellis stressed that there was "support across the chamber" for providing more support to mental health services in Carlisle, but he argued that adding an amendment to the city council's budget would not be the fastest way of providing support.

"If the issue is a priority, then this isn't the best way of achieving this," he said.

He warned that an amendment being passed would result in the budget returning to the council's executive, before having to return to the council for a second consideration in two weeks.

"The council leader gave an undertaking" he said. "I'll repeat the undertaking - that we can make the commitment for £15,000 and seek extra support from the county council.

"It could be to Mind, it could be to others as well.

"The purpose of the amendment is to try and get help to people who need it.

"The quickest way to get help to the people who need it is to accept the undertaking of the council leader and the undertaking of myself that we will put £15,000 aside and we can make that decision tomorrow.

"We will get in touch with the different organisations, get in touch with the chairman of the county council local area committee, who I'm sure will be willing to add some more to that.

"This amendment is not the best way to get the money quickly."

After a period of consideration, Mrs Brown chose to press ahead with the amendment, and was voted for unanimously by all councillors.

With the amendment having passed, the adoption of the council budget was not considered on Tuesday evening.

It will be put before the council a second time on Wednesday February 17.