Our Transport Working Group was set up in 2009 in
response to the then Government’s Concessionary Bus Fares Act which failed to
address the needs of mental health sufferers
and effectively excluded thousands with mental health problems from receiving
a bus pass. We continue to campaign for a change in legislation and guidance on
this issue.
As a result of discusssions with the Dept for Transport,
we discovered that their key advisory committee on disability, DPTAC (The
Disabled People’s Transport Advisory Committee), lacked any representation for
mental health. MHAG members convinced them that this was a serious omission. As
a result, we were invited to sit as Official Observers on the committee to
represent mental health. This is a major
coup for a small regional user-led group and has given us significant
opportunities to educate the committee and influence policy makers.
In 2011 we carried out a major survey of people’s experiences of public
transport revealing a clear link between good public transport and good mental
health. Our report Mental Health &
Public Transport Report
presented to the Transport Minister
in Sept 2011.
Respondents said that attitudes of some staff and drivers left
much to be desired revealing a serious lack of mental health training.
Following that report we managed to obtain funding to produce a training dvd
for bus drivers called ‘1 in 4 People’.
You can see a taster on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6nCGzuiCLk
Please urge your local bus company to
purchase the full copy by contacting the Confederation of Passenger Transport
on:
020 7240 3131.
