Lucy has focused on Mental Health issues in the last Parliament, particularly mental health of young people, mental health of children in care and male suicide rates.
As a member of the Education Select Committee, Lucy has ensured young people's mental health has been the focus of enquiry. The committee produced two significant reports, following in depth investigations with recommendations to Ministers, which you can see here and here.
Below is an extract from Lucy's speech on male suicide:
"The men in my life talk a lot. They talk about sport and work, and sometimes politics. They definitely know how to get their voices heard; but they do not always say what they are feeling or what is worrying them. They feel the need always to be strong, brave and the breadwinner—the man with the chiselled jaw in the Gillette advert, if anyone remembers that. Men are uncomfortable expressing their feelings and talking to someone about how distressed or desolate they feel. That is because society has embedded the social expectation for men to be strong at all times. Failure to do that is considered weakness, or failure as a man. We need only look at society today to see the pressures that the workplace and providing for their family place on men’s shoulders. Not feeling able to talk about the issues only makes things worse. I echo what many hon. Members have said—that the impact of suicide on children and the families left behind is indescribable: the guilt, the sense of abandonment and rejection, and the loss, which a child can never quite fathom. A family member left behind does not recover from suicide."
Locally, Lucy supported Telford MIND before she was elected and championed mental health awareness, inviting Jeremy Hunt to Telford to mark Time to Talk day in 2014. Telford MIND was one of the Telford Charities Lucy donated 10% of her salary to in 2015/16.
Lucy said: "I have seen first hand the impact that mental health issues and suicide has on families. It was something I wanted to keep raising in Parliament. We do not talk enough about mental health, but this is changing. We are now seeing real commitment to mental health issues at the highest level and I am proud to have played a part in driving this agenda forward."
You can see links to some of Lucy speeches on mental health of children in care and male suicide here and here.