Mental Health Forum in Ilkley focuses on supporting young men and boys
- 18 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Ilkley MP Robbie Moore and GP Dr Caroline Rayment of Grange Park Surgery hosted their second annual Mental Health Forum in Ilkley, bringing together more than 70 professionals from healthcare, education and mental health services to discuss the wellbeing of young men and boys.
The event at The Craiglands Hotel featured a keynote address and Q&A with Shadow Health Minister Dr Luke Evans MP, followed by a panel discussion with local experts including Dr Tom Bewick, Simon Ford (Ilkley Grammar School), Anthony Casson (Bradford Council Youth Service) and Lisa Stead (West Bradford Mental Health Support Team). Attendees also took part in an interactive workshop to identify opportunities to strengthen local support through greater collaboration.
Building on last year's forum on smartphones and social media, this year's event focused on the growing challenges facing young men and boys, including loneliness, identity, online influences and barriers to accessing mental health support.
Robbie Moore MP said: “It was great to see over 70 local professionals from across healthcare, education, and mental health services come together to share their expertise and explore ways we can strengthen the support available to young men in our community was incredibly encouraging.
"I want to thank all those who spoke at the event for their excellent contributions, including the stallholders, and everyone else who contributed to the event. Their time, expertise, and commitment to improving local mental health support were invaluable and helped make this forum the success that it was."
Dr Caroline Rayment added: “It was a great afternoon talking about boys and young men’s mental health. It’s a really important topic – I don’t think we talk about it enough – and we sometimes find it really hard to support those young people.
“I’m really encouraged by the information we’ve shared this afternoon, the relationships we’ve built, and we’ve learnt about the services available across the area. That’s so important, and hopefully we can build on this in future and work together more collectively to deliver a better service for our boys and young men.”
Dr Luke Evans MP said: “It’s been fantastic. The chance to come and talk about men and boys’ issues with stakeholders that really matter in the community. It’s all very well the Government coming up with policies and ideas, but what really matters is making action happen. A really successful day. Well done Robbie and his team.”