Council attempts to bridge gap with Bristol public in new mental health scheme

Councillors and staff are to be trained in mental health first aid as suicide numbers rise for the first time in 25 years, Bristol City Council has announced.

A motion, put forward by the council’s Labour Party representatives, aims to improve awareness within the council of mental health issues.

The unanimous motion will ask parties to nominate “mental health champions” who will prioritise mental health initiatives.

The council are also working to re-establish a West of England-wide Suicide Prevention Summit, which was originally founded in 2019 but shut down due to funding issues.

Councillor Tom Renhard, one of three who submitted the mental health motion to the council, believes that increasing support for mental health can “only be a good thing.”

“One in four people will experience a mental health problem in any given year, I think for children it’s one in five, so it’s a significant challenge,” he shared.

“Particularly where suicides are concerned”, Renhard continued. “Suicide rates increased in the last year’s data for the last time in 25 years, and so clearly more needs to be done.”

The council have resolved to scrutinise current mental health support services, where they hope to improve systems including children and adolescent mental services (CAMHS), student mental health, and rates of suicide in men.

Councillor Renhard said, “The place we need to aim for is zero suicides. Regardless of anyone’s views of whether that’s achievable or not, it’s what we need to aim for.”

Council staff member, Chris Price, thinks that the motion could be beneficial for his role. 

“I work in a lot of outreach at the council, and I think we think about how we’re interacting with people a lot and having healthy interactions and effective interactions.”

“I think this will change the focus slightly,” he elaborated, “and make us really driven to achieving better outcomes and healthier outcomes.”

The motion also suggests a partnership with the Bristol Nights Thrive at Night team. They hope to highlight ways to make the city safer at night, focusing particularly on Night Time Economy roles like hospitality and healthcare.

Torin McLean, a late-night hospitality worker who recently trained in mental health first aid himself, believes that “without the training, I don’t feel that I would be able to support or communicate with the people around me properly.”

“People have been a lot more open with me because of it”, he shared.

The council are hoping for a similar result. Renhard aims to see “councillors being more upskilled and more confident to deal with people who may be experiencing mental health challenges and knowing where to signpost them to.”

Councillor Tom Blenkinsop, who joined Renhard in submitting the motion, spoke at City Hall about the importance of bringing awareness to mental health issues. He hopes that mental health training will “help us all to engage better and more meaningfully.”