KEIGHLEY social housing landlord Incommunities has staged a special event to raise awareness of how mental health issues can affect people's lives.

The organisation teamed up with West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service and Shipley-based mental health charity The Cellar Trust, and the Shipley Health Food Store.

Together they were supporting Mental Health Awareness Week.

Members of staff from Incommunities and West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue shared the success of their partnership work, which aims to help tenants who – for a variety of reasons, including mental health issues – might be vulnerable to fire risks.

In the last year the housing group made 830 referrals to the fire service, which then completed individual assessments and offered preventative measures to reduce risk of fire.

More referral training for housing teams and repair staff is planned to help prevent vulnerable tenants from being victims of fires.

The theme of Mental Health Awareness Week 2015, organised by the Mental Health Foundation, was mindfulness – using a combination of techniques to help people change the way they think, feel and act.

During the week, Incommunities staff were encouraged to understand more about this by trying activities such as yoga, aromatherapy or a well-being walk during lunchtimes.

Greg Robinson, Incommunities assistant chief executive for resources, said: “We are committed to raising awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues which have the potential to have such a devastating effect on people’s lives.

“This week meant we were able to increase our awareness of the causes and potential treatment for mental health issues. We also learned more about the work of West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service and local partners supporting our vulnerable customers and gather a better understanding of mental health issues.”

Ian Bitcon, West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue area manager for fire safety, said: “We know mental health is one of the key issues in relation to fire deaths. An integral part of our prevention policy is working more closely with partner agencies, such as Incommunities, to identify high risk individuals and provide early intervention.”

The event included stalls, information and giveaways.