Last updated 15:43, Wednesday, 22 October 2008

UNIVERSITY of Cumbria lecturers and students teamed up to raise awareness for this year’s World Mental Health Day.

The day was held at the Carlisle campus when the university joined forces with Peter Bullimore, a former chronic schizophrenic who now runs his own training and consultancy business for mental health education.

The teaching event was for students on mental health, learning disabilities and nursing courses across all campuses.

They heard first-hand from Peter about his own personal experiences and how he turned his life around.

The awareness day, now in its 16th year, was a success, with a spokesman for the university saying: “We took this opportunity to deliver the event and spread the word about mental health issues, support available not only for sufferers but family and friends and change the stereotypical opinion about mental health sufferers.”

Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust also attended the event and signed up 100 students to become members. This allows them the opportunity to have their say in how services are run and can help challenge the stigma and discrimination attached to mental health.