Mounting excitement as the VW “Microbus” revs her throaty engine in anticipation of her journey around Wales commencing at the Assembly next Tuesday 20 April. Follow the animated VW link from our main site here to find out more about Hafal’s “Road to Recovery” campaign. We hope the sun will shine on the Minister of Health as we wave the bus off but brollies will be available; we are also video-linking to a small crowd in our North Wales centre – the bus will reach North Wales in mid June. See the full 22 event itinerary here.We will publish more in due course about the bus but for the enthusiasts out there she is a 1964 Samba-type de luxe “splittie” (split-screen) imported from Colorado and reconditioned under the supervision of Hafal’s Housing Manager Tracy Lee. Tracy has driven the right deals so that the bus is now valued some 10% over what we have paid to buy and do her up - so, if we can bear to part with her, we should more than recover our costs in the Autumn. Meanwhile I must embark on a diet in order to squeeze into the driver’s seat – sadly not possible on my first attempt.
One of the key purposes of the campaign is to achieve radical legislation which can change the lives of people with serious mental illness. To illustrate the importance and timeliness of our campaign just two days after the launch two of Hafal’s staff with personal experience of serious mental illness, Sue Barnes and Lee McCabe, will be giving evidence at the Assembly on the Proposed Mental Health (Wales) Measure – more on this shortly.
