'You can drive on a rough road – but not a collapsed bridge': Why mental health support must start in the community
16 May 2025, 09:59
A rough road isn’t the same as a collapsed bridge. Both slow you down, but one stops you entirely.
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As Mental Health Awareness Week is upon us, there’s a simple distinction that’s often lost in public discourse: the difference between mental wellbeing and mental health.
Every one of us faces challenges that affect our mental wellbeing—stress, burnout, grief—but not all of us experience diagnosable mental health conditions.
Recognising this nuance helps us talk more openly and responsibly about what support is needed, and for whom.
The pandemic was a wake-up call, reminding us of the power of local support, neighbourly kindness, and shared responsibility. Community—the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week—is not only central to our emotional wellbeing, but the most effective location for delivering support for the majority of patients. When services are embedded where people live, work and learn, they become more accessible, more trusted, and ultimately more effective.
Under the previous Conservative Government, we made significant strides to address the long-standing disparity between physical and mental health—but more remains to be done.
The move toward openness, early intervention and local access started then and has thankfully continued under the current Government.
But if we’re to build lasting change, we must go further. Resilience, both individual and collective, should be a national priority.
Government alone cannot be all things to all people, but it can and needs to provide the framework. Communities, schools, families and workplaces all have a role in nurturing a culture of prevention, openness and care.
These all culminate in providing the individual with the tools to support their own mental wellbeing.
Next week, the Mental Health Bill will have its Second Reading in the House of Commons, having already passed through the House of Lords.
This is an opportunity to better protect the most vulnerable and those around them, while also acting as a springboard for a stronger, more resilient system.
If accompanied by a clear workforce plan and sustained investment, it can help move us from crisis response to long-term prevention. A goal we all share.
Unfortunately, Labour’s Jobs Tax hits the very charities that are there to offer support and guidance when those suffering need it most.
Whether the Government went after charities by design or this was an unintended mistake, we will probably never know. What we do know, is it is having a profound effect on the services they can provide.
After all, mental health and wellbeing isn’t a niche issue. It’s a national one. And if we truly believe in building a healthier, more resilient society, community must be at its heart.
Dr Luke Evans MP has served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Hinckley and Bosworth since 12 December 2019. He currently holds the position of Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretary for Health and Social Care.
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