MY 18-year-old daughter is in hospital because she has a mental illness. Because she is sometimes at risk she needs to be in a low secure unit, and because there is no accommodation of this type in the South West she has been put in an adolescent unit in Maidenhead, Berkshire. Visiting means a four-hour drive each way. I have gone part-time at work in order to be able to visit her every week and to take part in family therapy. It would be impossible for me to visit regularly if I had to rely on public transport and it is very difficult for other family members or friends to visit. My daughter has lost touch with most of her friends and she is hundreds of miles away from her home and her roots. This must make it more difficult for her to get better. Next year she will be too old to stay where she is now, and Plymouth NHS Trust are saying she will have to be moved to Northampton or Essex. The sort of treatment my daughter is receiving is not highly specialised and could easily be provided in Devon or Cornwall, but although there has been talk about setting up suitable centres for many years there is no site or building identified at the moment. I believe there are many people from the South West with mental illness or learning disabilities placed in hospitals or units far away from their friends and families. I would like to contact other people who have relatives or friends in a similar situation in order to start a campaign to put pressure on the local NHS trusts to provide treatment somewhere in the South West close to public transport links. If you are interested in supporting my 'Bring them home campaign' please contact me c/o Plymouth Mind at 8 Woodside, Greenbank, Plymouth, 01752 254004 or by e-mail via helenherwin @plymouthmind.org.uk

HELEN HERWIN