Cornwall Mental Health Summit: BBC’s Seb Noble wants your questions

Ever had a question about mental health support in Cornwall that nobody in charge seemed able to answer? Next month you get a direct route to the people who actually run the county’s services, and it’s a familiar BBC face making sure it gets asked.

A summit built around residents’ questions

The Cornwall Mental Health Summit takes place on Friday 30 October, running from 10am to 12pm, and will bring a panel of mental health experts together to tackle some of the issues facing Cornwall residents. It will bring together the authorities, agencies and organisations involved in mental health services and in supporting people in mental distress across the county.

Hosting the event is Seb Noble, BBC Spotlight’s political reporter. His job on the day is to put residents’ concerns to the panel directly, which is why organisers want people to submit their questions before the panel is even briefed.

How to submit your question

📷Credit: Cornwall Council

Residents can put a question to the panel via the Let’s Talk Cornwall page for the summit. The deadline is 9am on Monday 5 October, when the key themes that have come in will be identified and will form the basis of the Summit’s discussions.

Why Cornwall Council says it matters

Cornwall Council Leader, Cllr Leigh Frost, said: “Mental health and wellbeing affects every community, every family and every generation. This summit will provide an opportunity to hear directly from experts, listen to residents and work together with partners on our shared ambition to improve mental wellbeing across Cornwall.”

“The aim of the Summit is to bring the key people together to identify and help deliver solutions to the ongoing issues Cornwall is dealing with,” said Cornwall Council’s Cabinet lead for Community Safety and Public Health, Cllr Thalia Marrington. “The open conversation will be an opportunity to build a shared understanding of the challenges, opportunities and responsibilities across the whole system.”

Cornwall’s Director of Public Health, Dr Eunan O’Neill, said significant work is already under way through this year’s Director of Public Health Annual Report, the Mental Health Needs Assessment and the Suicide Prevention Strategy review. “The summit will complement and strengthen these programmes, ensuring we listen to what matters to our residents and work together to support mental wellbeing,” Eunan said.

What the Summit hopes to deliver

Organisers are hoping for two things once the panel has spoken. The first is a clear, evidence-based overview of mental health, mental wellbeing and suicide prevention in Cornwall, alongside a wider awareness of the factors that shape people’s wellbeing, including housing, employment, community connection, poverty and discrimination.

The second is a Cornwall Mental Health Declaration, meant to make sure every organisation involved in the county’s mental health services is aligned and working towards the same goals.

That declaration will sit alongside work already under way, including this year’s Director of Public Health Annual Report, the Mental Health Needs Assessment and the Suicide Prevention Strategy review. Anyone who misses the live stream on Cornwall Council’s Facebook and YouTube channels on the day will simply have to wait and see whether the Declaration delivers on what it promises.

📷Credit: Cornwall Council