{"id":42636,"date":"2025-10-07T09:21:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T08:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/?p=42636"},"modified":"2025-10-07T09:22:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T08:22:52","slug":"council-attempts-to-bridge-gap-with-bristol-public-in-new-mental-health-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/2025\/10\/07\/council-attempts-to-bridge-gap-with-bristol-public-in-new-mental-health-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"Council attempts to bridge gap with Bristol public in new mental health scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls src=\"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Mental-Health-motion-SL-.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A motion, put forward by the council\u2019s Labour Party representatives, aims to improve awareness within the council of mental health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The unanimous motion will ask parties to nominate \u201cmental health champions\u201d who will prioritise mental health initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ghrp64AXAAAd9T8.jpg\" alt=\"Councillor Tom Renhard (second from right) put forward the motion to Council this week. \" class=\"wp-image-42642\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ghrp64AXAAAd9T8.jpg 700w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ghrp64AXAAAd9T8-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ghrp64AXAAAd9T8-640x366.jpg 640w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ghrp64AXAAAd9T8-681x389.jpg 681w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Councillor Tom Renhard (second from right) put forward the motion to the council this week. (Picture courtesy of Tom Renhard)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Councillor Tom Renhard, one of three who submitted the mental health motion to the council, believes that increasing support for mental health can \u201conly be a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne in four people will experience a mental health problem in any given year, I think for children it\u2019s one in five, so it\u2019s a significant challenge,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cParticularly where suicides are concerned\u201d, Renhard continued. \u201cSuicide rates increased in the last year\u2019s data for the last time in 25 years, and so clearly more needs to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Councillor Renhard said, \u201cThe place we need to aim for is zero suicides. Regardless of anyone\u2019s views of whether that\u2019s achievable or not, it\u2019s what we need to aim for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<center> <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">One UK student dies by suicide every 4 days,I painted this close to Bristol University library.There are a lot of people struggling with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/mentalhealth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#mentalhealth<\/a> issues at the moment &amp; life isn&#39;t getting easier. Today is national suicide prevention day <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/3dadswalking?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@3dadswalking<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/samaritans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@samaritans<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBCBristol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@BBCBristol<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xk7ZyaQhBv\">pic.twitter.com\/xk7ZyaQhBv<\/a><\/p>&mdash; JohnDoh (@JohnDohArt) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnDohArt\/status\/1833453933307576678?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 10, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Council staff member, Chris Price, thinks that the motion could be beneficial for his role.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI work in a lot of outreach at the council, and I think we think about how we\u2019re interacting with people a lot and having healthy interactions and effective interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think this will change the focus slightly,\u201d he elaborated, \u201cand make us really driven to achieving better outcomes and healthier outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The motion also suggests a partnership with the Bristol Nights <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolnights.co.uk\/projects\/thrive-at-night\">Thrive at Night<\/a> team. They hope to highlight ways to make the city safer at night, focusing particularly on Night Time Economy roles like hospitality and healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<center> <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">What is your experience of mental health at work?<br><br>The council want to learn more about the mental health and wellbeing of the night time workforce to help us measure the effectiveness and impact of the Thrive at Night programme.<br><br>Complete the short survey<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4ncwqmFplC\">https:\/\/t.co\/4ncwqmFplC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o75AnqfhFD\">pic.twitter.com\/o75AnqfhFD<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Bristol Nights (@BristolNightsHQ) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BristolNightsHQ\/status\/1830901726699807053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 3, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Torin McLean, a late-night hospitality worker who recently trained in mental health first aid himself, believes that \u201cwithout the training, I don\u2019t feel that I would be able to support or communicate with the people around me properly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPeople have been a lot more open with me because of it\u201d, he shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The council are hoping for a similar result. Renhard aims to see \u201ccouncillors being more upskilled and more confident to deal with people who may be experiencing mental health challenges and knowing where to signpost them to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 \u201chelp us all to engage better and more meaningfully.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s Labour Party representatives, aims to improve awareness within the council of mental health issues. The unanimous motion will ask parties [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":313,"featured_media":42640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1657],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-assignments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/313"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42636"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42881,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42636\/revisions\/42881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}