Father delivers mental health petition to No 10

A father has walked more than 100 miles to deliver a petition to Downing Street in memory of his son and to call for better funding for children's mental health services.

Rob Collins initially set out from son Mitch's memorial bench in Wolverley, Worcestershire, on 28 March but was set back by a knee injury.

But he didn't give up, and with wife Lisa and eldest son Drew continuing the route, Collins helped complete the final stretch at the weekend.

The petition calling for Mitch's Law, which was started in 2020, has garnered more than 13,770 signatures. The family will needed 100,000 to trigger a parliamentary debate.

Mitch died in 2019 and his family has campaigned for better health support for young people ever since.

"The rise in young people suffering from challenges regarding mental health is a massive concern," says the petition on Change.org.

It calls for the government to fund mental health workers in schools which, say the Collins family, would help address long waiting lists and gaps in care.

The walk was first announced at Mitch's wake in May 2019 but was repeatedly postponed, firstly because of the Covid pandemic and later due to Collins' health.

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