It is with great delight that I welcome you all, for our first bi-monthly newsletter. The newsletter is to provide our Associate membership with continuous access to information on our developments, and also provide other organisations, groups and individuals on mental health issues.

It is also intended as a platform, to promote and profile the work and services of STEER. We will be inviting contributions from people with primary and scondary experience of mental health difficulties, political representatives from the island of Ireland, Britain and Europe, health and social care professionals and otrher interested paarties in mental health issues.

The bi-monthly news-sheet is intended to raise awareness amongst the wider community on mental health issues.

This news-sheet is also aimed at raising policy and service developments within the general mental health environment. There are many instance where social welfare or health policy changes have been implemented in the mental health environment with limited or no participation from those most affected by the changes. By providing a 'vocal-platform' for these views, STEER will be achieving its lobbying and campaign objectives to bring about substantial reform in the mental health environment.

The news-sheet will provide an avenue for many people to become more aware of mental health issues. We also wish to represent the views of carers, family members and friends of people with mental health difficulties. People with secondary experience of mental health difficulties are too often over-looked and forgotten.

We welcome all contributions from interested party to join in the debate on mental health issues. If you or your organisation would like to become and Associate Member of STEER and receive a regular copy of this publication, please fill in the form on the back-page and return to us.

You may also like to pass this onto a friend or family members, who may also be interested.

'I TOLD YOU I WASN'T WELL'

With these words as his epitaph, Spike Milligan left this world.Spike, gifted writer and comic genius, struggled with the vicissitudes of Manic Depression for most of his long adult life.

As a solder during WWII, the impact of what he experienced, were to leave its mark for the rest of his life.We will remember his with and his humour, but also his great courage in being open and honest.