MENTAL Health Awareness Week, is an annual event which I support as it highlights an area of health which fails to receive the funding and publicity it deserves.

It is so often the Cinderella of the NHS, because mental health issues may not as obvious as physical ailments, but they are as every bit as important and debilitating.

They cause anguish for the sufferer and their families who deserve all the help they need from health professionals, but funding issues mean they face long waiting lists for assistance.

This state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue, we have all read of those who took their own lives while waiting for help. Mental health services must be properly funded for the sake of those afflicted as well as society generally.

Louise Bours North west UKIP MEP