Senior Ministers show support for Charley's Campaign

Home Secretary, Priti Patel and Health Secretary, Matt Hancock express their sympathy for the family of 12 year old Charley Patterson.

Author: Andy WatsonPublished 4th May 2021

As we continue our Charleys Campaign in memory of 12 year old Charley Patterson from Cramlington, we've been asking some of the highest ranking cabinet officials for their support.

Last month the Home Secretary Priti Patel agreed to meet with Charley's mam after Blyth Valley MP Ian Levy mentioned Charley's story in Parliament. On a recent visit to the region we asked the Ms Patel if she was still committed to meet with the family:

"How her family must be coping one could only imagine the stress and the trauma they must be going through. I will meet with Charley's parents and we will look at everything possible we can do in terms the Campaign you're running, to see what support we can give. As we come out of the pandemic we will be able to move the system in a completely different way and work to get children and young people the support they need."

Working with the family of Charley to trying the push for waiting times to be reduced to under a month for an initial assessment. This is because Charley was told by local Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services that there was three year wait to be seen, she tragically took her own life six months later.

We took this request to the Health Secretary Matt Hancock who told us:

"I've seen the case of Charley and it's really sad, I think one of the most important things we have to do coming out of the pandemic is look after young peoples mental health. I know how much of an impact lockdown has had on peoples mental health and we are putting in more investment into this sector. We also need to use the resources that we have whether that be online services, so we make sure children get the support they need in these difficult circumstances. I want to meet with the family of Charley Patterson, I've talked to Ian Levy about this and I think he's doing brilliantly representing the people of Blyth Valley and I look forward to meeting with them."

If your a child and feeling affected by any of the issues in this news story call Childline on 0800 1111 or if your an adult feeling affected you can call the Samaritans for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org.