CHIPPENHAM MP Michelle Donelan has pledged to help organise a dinner in October to raise funds for Wiltshire MIND, the charity that supports people with mental health problems.

She made the pledge during a visit to the charity's offices in High Street, Melksham, where chief executive Carolyn Beale told her about their recent projects.

The charity is a local and self-funded operation; it is affiliated to MIND, the national charity, but receives no funding.

It is not commissioned by MIND to provide services so must raise every penny to continue the invaluable work it is doing in Wiltshire.

Miss Donelan said: “I have always passionately pushed for more resources into mental health support and whilst we are doing this we still rely on local MIND charities who really help transform lives.

"To help them raise funds I am organising a fundraising dinner in October and will provide details soon.”

She added: "Wiltshire MIND is particularly involved with the armed services and conscious of the imminent arrival of all of our troops back from Germany, they would very much like to be able to offer their services in the garrison towns. I have pledged to help with this."

Wiltshire MIND runs services from Trowbridge, Melksham, Chippenham, Salisbury, Malmesbury and Devizes.

Services include peer support groups, carer support groups, one-to-one counselling services and a new young people’s counselling service.

The charity also provides training for businesses and organisations through a range of 1-2-day courses, providing workplaces with the tools they need to identify and help their workforce through periods of difficulty with mental health.

Miss Donelan added: "This helps them to fund their other services so I would urge all businesses to think of the value of running a course for their staff and the community at large."