Charlotte Davies is a Director of Fit 2 Learn CIC; she is a member of the APPG on a Fit and Healthy Childhood; she has been active in community activities for many years and was a founder of South Croydon Community Association.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood are looking for sponsors for a report on Mental Health issues in Childhood. The group is Chaired by Baroness Floella Benjamin and is one of the most active APPG’s in Parliament.

The APPG need to raise £10,000 to produce this report; they already have one leading charity putting up £5,000.

I would like to ask Croydon communities to come together to raise a matched amount.

The reasons for doing this are that:

1. I think that it would send a very strong and powerful message to Parliament that Croydon’s community care very deeply about children’s mental health and that it needs to be a priority.

2. Families that are dealing with children’s mental health issues are often really struggling for support and there needs to be a better service that is more appropriate; that resolves problems quickly and does not let things go from bad to worse. We need to work together to speak with a clear voice to define the support that is needed and to identify examples of good practise.

3. The strain of dealing with a child with serious mental health issues can tear a family apart. In Croydon we pride ourselves on our strong community and that starts with support for families and individuals and enabling them to be productive members of the community. I think that this issue is close to the heart of many Croydon people.

4. Across Croydon we have many hostels and homes for adults with long-term mental health problems. Most of these issues started in childhood. If we want to find a solution to the drug and alcohol problems we see every day we need to start with childhood mental health.

If we pull this together it would be useful to come together to create a forum on this issue to feed into the report directly from our community experience. Nothing could be more powerful.

I need to gather the funds in by 6 August, if possible.