Thomas MRB

Valentine's Day Pledge.

Valentine's Day is a happy occasion for most. However, this day has a new meaning for one family.

Tom, at age 28, was suffering with his mental health and sought help... but no help was available as it was a weekend. He was told someone would contact him the following Monday morning- but Monday was too late for Tom. He took his life Sunday 14th Feb 2021.

Mental health is 24/7- it doesn't just suffer 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. Therefore, the family are raising money to provide a weekend call operator to provide the much needed help where it currently isn't available.

As this Valentine's Day marks the first anniversary of Tom's death we will put 30% (because he would be 30 in September) of any Valentine's Day Card sales into the fundraiser.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-thomas-mrb-trust
So please, help this go far and wide, as we want to put in as much as possible. 💙

I hope you have the time to please read our harrowing story.

Thomas Butler was our baby brother, Thursday the 11th February he stole a works van and went missing. This was completely out of character for Tom so obviously the whole family alerted the police and then ourselves started a search. Many hours later he was found safe by the police and given the usual leaflets that we gather are handed out. On Friday morning he plucked up the courage to call and speak to someone from the NHS mental health services. On this call, he admitted to wanting to kill himself, that he felt broken and needed to be fixed. They then assured him he would get a call later on... that did not happen but instead later that evening he had a text to call a number, which for someone with mental health problems this can and will set them off, which in this case it did mess with Tom and caused him a lot of distress, which just isn't fair and/or good enough for the people who are struggling and suffering. Tom was paranoid about phones and didn't trust them, so this message did in fact cause him unnecessary distress which could have been handled better with someone taking a few moments out of their working day to call him instead of sending an automated text. Finally calmed down, he decided to call again with help from family, to then be told there is no one available over the weekend to help him and that someone would call him back Monday morning 9 am Monday did not come for Tom, Sunday the 14th February he ended his life in the most tragic way.

We are not saying Tom's story is more important than any other person's situation with mental health but this is just one of many situations that are falling through the crack in these times.

What we are trying to do is make aware of the lack of help out there on weekends. So Monday to Friday you're allowed to have mental health issues but come Friday night to Sunday night sorry were not available mental health is something that affects people 24/7 not just during office hours. This is what we're trying to advocate to make more awareness. We know the NHS is bursting at the seams and we know Covid-19 has a big part to play in the lack of services but is that ok to be at the detriment of someone's health, their life even.