18 Jan Mountains Mend Minds call on Fife’s political parties to prioritise mental health and the outdoors in council elections

A mental health and outdoors advocate has called on political parties fielding candidates in May’s Council elections in Fife to make mental health support and accessing the outdoors key priorities in the next term.

Ross Cunningham from Inverkeithing, who runs a website called Mountains Mend Minds promoting the mental health benefits of hillwalking, will be contacting all parties and independent candidates with a request that they outline specific actions in their respective manifestos in the areas of mental health services and supporting more Fifers to access the outdoors.

Ross said:
“These will be the first local authority elections to be held since the pandemic began and so it’s an opportunity for parties to make a commitment to prioritise mental health and pledge to invest further in outdoor spaces.

“I believe it’s vital that each political party in Fife outlines in their respective manifestos the actions they would take in the areas of mental health and the outdoors if elected – and that’s what I will be asking them to outline ahead of the vote.

“One in three Scots are estimated to be affected by mental illness each year so we need to ensure there are timely mental health support services, including counselling, available to those who need it.

“There is no shortage of outdoor spaces to explore in the region – Fife is arguably the best county in Scotland per square mile for walking and hiking. So let’s enable more Fifers to get exercising through improving outdoor facilities and supporting more active travel links connecting our towns and villages.

“The benefits of exercise and being outdoors on mental wellbeing can be profound and I believe that Fife has the potential to be a trailblazer in Scotland for getting more people active and leading healthier, happier lives.”

ENDS