We鈥檙e delighted to be closing in on 10,000 signatures on our petition calling for the four UK Governments to maximise counselling and psychotherapy in supporting the nation through the Covid-19 crisis.

If you haven鈥檛 already had the opportunity to add your voice to the campaign, please help us reach the landmark number of supporters by .

We鈥檝e also received commitments from politicians across the four nations to make聽representations聽on our behalf to their respective Government or Executive,聽as well as聽offers to table parliamentary questions and to sign and share the petition.聽聽

Political support

It comes after we contacted around 120聽MPs, Peers,聽Welsh Assembly Ministers (AMs),聽Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and Members of the Northern Island Legislative Assembly (MLAs) friendly to us and our cause, to build further political support behind our campaign, with nuanced asks for each nation.聽

In the first week of聽the聽campaign we wrote to relevant Heath and Mental Health Ministers across each nation of the UK.

And we鈥檝e now received support from 18 professional bodies,聽providers and campaign groups who have signed up to back our campaign.

Since our last update, the campaign has been backed by the British Infertility Counselling Association (BICA), the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT), Human Givens Institute, Lifelink and the Psychosynthesis Trust.

Thank you

Steve Mulligan, our Four Nations Policy and Engagement Lead, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted by the positive response we鈥檝e received from members, organisations, and politicians so far. Thank you to everyone who has supported us.

鈥淲e鈥檙e keen to reach our campaign target of 10,000 signatures this week to show the four Governments what strength of feeling there is that counselling and psychotherapy has an important role to play in the mental health response to coronavirus and supporting the nations in their recovery.

鈥淲e鈥檙e also heartened by the response we鈥檝e had from organisations, and are looking to grow our partnerships further.鈥�

Please get in touch if you would like to be an organisational supporter. Email: PublicAffairs@bacp.co.uk

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