Ealing North
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Steve Pound MP Ealing North |
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June 2003 I always had a soft spot for George Bernard Shaw. He was an excellent Councillor in Camden and even managed to write a few good books, plays and music reviews in between meetings of the Parks and Cemeteries Sub-committee. One thing, however, I could never forgive him for. Had the Hanwell Liberation Front (formerly the People’s Front for the Liberation of Hanwell) been around in 1913 they would have had something to say about his play “Pygmalion”. They would certainly have wanted to picket the cinemas when the film version,” My Fair Lady” was released. Shaw’s crime was to imply that anyone from Hanwell was mad. Eliza Doolittle’s exasperated father gets so fed up with Professor Higgins correctly identifying the part of London which the Covent Garden theatregoers come from by their accent that he tells the Professor that as he’s insane he must come from Hanwell. The reason for this disgraceful slur on the good name of W7 is that, at the time, the area was known only for St.Bernard’s Hospital. This was part of a pattern which saw vast asylums built in a ring around London and those who suffered from mental illness were exiled to these Victorian castles for life. Until very recently Ealing people were sent to Friern Barnet or St.Bernard’s on a one way ticket. And not just the mentally ill. I remember meeting a man who had lost a leg in a railway accident as a little boy and who spent the next forty years of his life in Friern Barnet as there was no-where else for him. I hope that we’ve moved on a little from the days of “out of sight, out of mind”. Nowadays we show respect to our fellow citizens who suffer an illness that could afflict any one of us. Much of the credit for the change in attitude belongs to organisations like the National Schizophrenia Fellowship. Operating under the name of Rethink they are campaigning to improve the lives of people affected by severe mental illness and their carers. The carers so often get forgotten and it does my heart good to meet energetic and committed young people like Dalvinder Jammu, our local Carers Support Co-ordinator for Rethink. Last Sunday he organised a football match between carers and users. This was not only an opportunity to publicly challenge the popular misconceptions but also to introduce potential carers and volunteers to Rethink. Care in the community has had a bad name recently, but not nearly as bad as the assumption that severe mental illness equals a life sentence of hospital care. Seeing Dal and the teams enjoy a hard-fought football match gave me some hope that we can finally shrug off our prejudices and take an honest look at an issue that affects us all. I actually felt quite ashamed that my contribution was limited to getting up on a Sunday morning and dishing out the awards and a few presents from the House of Commons. The commitment of the carers and volunteers was absolutely inspirational and I prophesy great things for Rethink with Dal’s energy to spur them on. I may even forgive GBS. Rethink Website |
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| Disclaimer | Copyright | Designed by Bassam Mahfouz. Promoted by Julian Bell, The Labour Party, Ruskin Hall, 16 Church Road, W3 8PP on behalf of Steve Pound MP |
