Mental health services in Norwich have a terrible track record. This campaigner is trying to change that.

Hello and welcome back to The Seeker,

This week, former Eastern Daily Press editor Dave Powles sits down for a very moving chat with a social worker who became a reluctant mental health campaigner after the death of her son.

And at the bottom of the newsletter, you'll find our usual weekend guide.

Thanks to everyone who has taken a couple of minutes to do our reader survey. The results are fascinating and will have a huge influence on the future direction of The Seeker. I’ll share them with you very soon. If you haven’t had a chance to do it yet, you can fill it out here 🙏.

Btw, over the next couple of weeks I'm planning to look at a lack of access to dentists in the city and the Norwich-London railway line so please get in touch if you have any experiences of those issues which you'd be happy to share.

Until next Saturday!

Tom

'He died waiting'

The repeated failures of our mental health service have been making all the wrong headlines for years. They’ve been a factor in numerous deaths and sparked the formation of a campaign group. But what drives bereaved families at the heart of these efforts? And what do they want?

"I really don’t want to be doing this. I’ve ended up on this journey I never wanted to be on. I’d like them to just make it okay, so I can go down my garden and sew or write books about the Norfolk countryside."

These are the words of Caroline Aldridge, mental health campaigner, author and mum to Tim, a 30-year-old who was found dead at his home in Chantry Road, Norwich in 2014.

The "lovely, huggy, chatty boy" spent more than half of his life struggling with complex mental health problems, but, according to his mum, was repeatedly failed by the system, passed from pillar to post by mental health services and died facing a long wait for an appointment.

Seven years after his death, his bereaved mother released a book telling their story. Its title says it all; ‘He Died Waiting’.