Call for Better Mental Health: General Election Template Email for Candidates

With the general election fast approaching, you can still email your local Parliamentary candidates to add your support for our Manifesto which is calling on the next government to take five key actions to ensure that mental health is prioritised for everyone.

We’re calling on all candidates to prioritise mental health and the VCSE mental health provider sector. Use the template below to email your candidates – you can find your local parliamentary candidates’ contact details by searching your postcode here, and copy us in at: info@amhp.org.uk

Write to your candidates using our email template:

Dear [Insert Candidate Name],

With poor mental health and illness and pressures on mental health services continuing to rise, greater investment and support for the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) mental health provider sector, which supports over 8 million people is crucial. As a voter in your constituency, I am supporting the Association of Mental Health Providers’ call for all political parties to make a strong commitment to prioritise this vital issue in the forthcoming election and, if elected, in Parliament.

Mental health needs across our nation have increased sharply in recent years, with one in six adults experiencing a common mental health disorder in any given week.

The combination of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis has worsened the nation’s mental health and has led to an increase in the demand for mental health support services, while the gaps in access, treatment, and securing positive outcomes for mental health have widened. This has also exacerbated inequalities across society, especially for communities that are underrepresented and/or marginalised due to their race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, gender, disability, socioeconomic background, immigration status, and other protected characteristics.

Association of Mental Health Providers, the only national representative organisation representing VCSE providers of mental health services, are calling on the next government to take urgent actions to ensure that the sector is supported to ensure everyone can live mentally healthier lives, with a crucial need for improvements in access, experience, and outcomes.

As my local candidate, I am urging you to support this manifesto and actions:

• Invest to create a sustainable VCSE mental health sector.
• Invest to create an integrated mental health workforce.
• Address inequalities in the mental health system.
• Address the root causes of poor mental health and illness.
• Reform the outdated Mental Health Act.

I am calling for Better Mental Health for Everyone.

Please do take the time to read the Association’s full manifesto, which shows how people in our own community are impacted and how local organisations need our support.

Addressing the challenges faced by our population and the VCSE mental health sector is a crucial investment in this nation’s future. The general election is an opportunity to create positive change which is urgently needed.

I urge you to show your support and commit to actions to help shape a future that ensures that Better Mental Health for Everyone can be a reality.

Yours faithfully,

[Insert Your Name]