Churchill statue
Our statue of Churchill in a straitjacket symbolises the way that people with mental illness are stigmatised in society.
We understand that the statue may be provocative and difficult for some. If this has caused offence we apologise. It is certainly not our intention.We are saddened and disappointed that the owners of the Forum in Norwich, where the statue had been on display for three days, have banned us from displaying the statue.
The statue has not been destroyed and we hope to find a new place for it soon.
The statue is a celebration of the life of a man who triumphed over mental health problems and Rethink's campaign to lift the stigma and discrimination faced by hundreds of thousands of people with severe mental illness will continue.
People who experience severe mental health problems die, on average, 10 years sooner than members of the general population, much of that due to discrimination that prevents people getting the physical health care they need.
People are being denied jobs because of the prejudice of employers. Today there are more people claiming Incapacity Benefit for mental health problems than there are people claiming job seekers allowance for unemployment. This is despite people with mental health problems having the highest want to work rate of any disabled group.
People are hiding the early symptoms of mental illness because of the fear surrounding mental illness, denying themselves the help and support they need to recover their lives.
This is totally unacceptable in the 21st century.
We believe that we need to break through the barrier of discrimination if people with mental illness are ever going to be able to achieve their full potential.
It is very far from being an insult to the memory of Winston Churchill. This is a man who battled behind the scenes with depression but went on to achieve greatness. If his mental health problems had been more widely known at the time, he may never have been Prime Minister and the course of this country’s history may have been very different.
Today, hundreds of thousands of people with severe mental illness are facing appalling levels of discrimination – we believe that Churchill-in-a-straitjacket symbolises a modern-battle against mental health discrimination that he would have been keen to engage in.
