INTRODUCTION

An Introduction to PROMPT Issues 5 and 6

by Keith Armstrong

Many years ago I was lucky enough to know the two pioneering founders of the not-for-profit organisation known as The Preservation of the Rights of Mental Patients in Therapy (PROMPT).

Cherry and Julian founded PROMPT in the late 1970s. Both of them had been in mental hospitals and were aware as to what went on in them in the 1960s and 1970s. Cherry, who had a hole in her heart and mild learning difficulties, had been raped as a child by her mother's lover -the rapist got three months in prison, while the victim got seven years locked up in a mental hospital. The article she wrote about her life, "My Own Story", appears in this double issue. Julian was a mental health survivor, I do not know the label given to describe his condition.

Cherry and Julian, along with a few supporters, put together a petition against psycho-surgery and ECT - even though they were not funded or affiliated to any other group, including MIND and Scientology, they gathered 10,000 signatures.

One of the most poignant things they did was to lay a wreath on Remembrance Day to all those with mental health issues who died in the world wars.

Their magazine was produced not-for-profit and cannot be found in most reference libraries or second hand bookshops in the UK, nor on the internet. It is however important as a record of disability history, survivor group history and equal Rights.

I lost touch with Cherry and Julian in the late 1980's and nobody I know, who knew them, knows what has happened to them. I feel sure that they would want their contribution to the community to be known about. This is my only copy of their magazine and it had a very small print run. I am sharing this because I would not want it to be lost or damaged.

I am distributing this issue for free, however I feel sure that genuine mental health survivor groups would welcome any donation you could give.

If you have a different issue of their magazine, I request you to also share it.

Copyright Note: Commercial use of this document is prohibited without written permission from the authors. This publication is shared for the spirit in which it was created.

Keith ArmstrongAugust, 2014