The Mayor will open the meeting and welcome all present.
Minutes:
The Mayor opened the meeting by announcing the recent death of a long-serving member of staff, Mr Andrew Walker, and led the Council in paying tribute to him by observing a minute’s silence. Members were advised that Mr Walker had worked for the Council for 27 years since March 1990. During his career at the Council Mr Walker had worked in a range of services and had been well respected by colleagues for his knowledge and ability to help when issues needed to be resolved.
The Leader advised that he had known Mr Walker throughout his career with the Council. Mr Walker had started as a Litter Picker and had been promoted several times during his career. By the time of his death Mr Walker was acting as Interim Manager of the Repairs and Maintenance team. Mr Walker had been involved with a range of high profile initiatives in Redditch over the years, including the introduction of fortnightly waste and recycling collections and the Ricky the Rat advertising campaign. The Leader was also aware that Mr Walker was a dedicated family man with seven children and a loving wife.
Councillor Brunner passed on condolences on behalf of the Conservative Group. She mentioned that Mr Walker had been well liked and respected by both staff and elected Members. He had accompanied Members on various walkabouts within their wards and had always been really helpful.
A number of other Members testified to their like and respect for Mr Walker. In so doing Members noted that Mr Walker had been passionate, hard-working and very knowledgeable about his service area. Mr Walker had continued to answer work related phone calls whilst in hospital and Members concurred that this was a testament to his good character and dedication to his work.
Following these discussions the Mayor invited Mrs Laney Walsh, Branch Secretary to the Redditch and Bromsgrove Branch of Unison, who had been directly involved in work on the Time to Change initiative at the Town Hall, to speak on the subject of young people and mental health.
Mrs Walsh advised Members that mental health was an important subject both for her and the wider community. Unfortunately many people in society continued to misunderstand the subject and often judged people who were experiencing mental health problems. This could send a problematic message to young people.
Members were advised that people needed to consider the language that they used when referring to mental health issues. Negative language could reinforce judgemental perceptions and this could resonate for the rest of a young person’s life. Adults had a duty to encourage young people to participate in society as well as to explore their emotions. This was only likely to happen if older adults set a positive example.
Socialisation was important to enable everybody to address potential mental health and wellbeing problems. As part of this social media could be a positive force where used constructively. Unfortunately some people chose to bully and harass others in a variety of settings and this could have a negative impact on a person’s self-esteem and mental wellbeing. Young people needed to be encouraged to learn as they grew older and supported in stressful situations. By encouraging young people to participate in social and voluntary activities they could be enabled to reflect and be calm, thereby helping to address issues such as anxiety.
Mrs Walsh thanked Members for providing her with an opportunity to speak and for listening to what she had had to say.