We want to make Suffolk the best place in the world for talking about and taking care of mental wellbeing.All of us have mental health, just as we have physical health. Both are equally important and anyone can become mentally unwell if they are unable to meet their emotional needs.Just as five-a-day, a little exercise and a balanced diet are part of keeping people physically healthy and ultimately out of hospital, so it is with mental health.Our programme to educate and raise awareness will mean the entire population of Suffolk can make a life that works.One in four of us will suffer from mental ill health in any given year. In the UK 70 million days of work are lost annually to mental ill health, making it the leading cause of sickness absence. The resources of the NHS are stretched and unable to meet rising demand for mental health services.Our prevention approach will mean the limited resources of the county can be better spent or saved.Our priorities are threefold:Firstly, our education programme – rolled out online, through schools, businesses, statutory services and elsewhere – will help people understand that they have emotional needs that must be met in order to stay mentally well.Secondly, by focusing more time and effort on helping people keep themselves well, we hope the resources of the county can be spent in such a way that the NHS is there to help you when you need it.Finally, we will be relentless in encouraging a similar emphasis on prevention among all organisations we interact with. We will encourage employers to recruit and value people with mental health issues, thus securing better outcomes for the employees and for the profits of those businesses.We believe this approach will improve the lives of families, individuals and businesses in Suffolk. As a local mental health charity, Suffolk Mind is well placed to make our county the best place in the world for talking about and taking care of mental health and wellbeing.

http://geckotheatre.com/

Parliamentary Candidate in Haltemprice & Howden in 2001, 2005 (target seat) and 2010 (paper candidate).Mentor women candidates, providing coaching support.Provide training to other candidates and councillors in media and presentation skills.

Managed the corporate communications team, with responsibility for strategy, tactics and implementation. Team tasks include:o Media and PR campaignso Stakeholder relationso Public affairs (non-lobbying)o Chief executive’s thought leadership programme (speaking engagements, media profile, etc)o IGD.com and social media strategyManaged external agency support.Crisis management support, most recently on the horsemeat issue.At the heart of organisational response to food industry issues including sustainability, retailing, supply chain developments and nutrition - managing many different reactive and proactive tasks, ensuring internal buy-in.Key achievements: re-wrote corporate communications strategy and implementation plan; recruited new team and built robust processes from scratch; trebled media coverage since 2007 to average twice-weekly national newspaper and more than daily trade publication presence; reinvigorated IGD’s relationship with communications professionals within member companies; introduced social media strategy; substantially increased international media coverage.

Worked with key accounts: Sainsbury’s; English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX); Anglo Beef Processors (ABP); East of England Development Agency (EEDA).Overall responsibility for marketing communications and PR for specific projects with each client including production of brochures, information materials, strategic press campaigns, crisis management, media relations and stakeholder communications.Key achievements: oversaw successful launch of Beef Better Returns Programme for EBLEX which included sustained and extensive media coverage, production of technical materials and direct mail; securednew business from Duc d’O, Aspall, Sainsbury’s and Anglo Beef Processors; secured coverage for EEDA-funded Eat East local food and drink campaign, including a project to promote local beer to drink with meals.

Responsible for managing relationships with national and international media in retail, food, farming and business sectors.Maintained high standard of press office functions, researching and writing press material, preparing rebuttals and liaising with internal spokespeople.Key achievements: increased amount and quality of national business page coverage through betterrelationships with journalists; raised profile of chief exec in farming press (a priority set by CEO) leading to her identification as ‘one to watch’ by Farmers Weekly; doubled the number of international journalists (from 18 to 38) attending major annual event, securing more international coverage in the run-up to and after the event.

Overall responsibility for the drafting and delivery of the Operational Marketing Plan, incorporating:awareness-raising; reputation management; and market penetration through events and the internet.Liaised with external partners like Yorkshire Forward (RDA), and many funding bodies to co-ordinate marketing campaigns.Responsibility for £200,000 annual marketing and events budget.Key achievements: made significant contribution to an increased market penetration for business and start-up support of 43% (up from 36% two years previous); brought media function in-house for the first time resulting in an increase in monthly press coverage from 15 to 80 articles.