AN Ilkley florist is raising funds for a charity which works to raise awareness of mental health issues which affect young people.

Erica Berry Flowers has decided to support the charity YoungMinds and has placed a collection tin next to the till at the shop in Railway Road, Ilkley.

The florist has already worked with Ilkley Grammar School last term in the run up to exams by sending out brightly coloured orange germini each with a card attached giving the YoungMinds contact details. The students were encouraged to take a flower home if they wanted, for them to keep for themselves or to give to a friend who they thought might find it helpful. They also left three YoungMinds collecting tins with the school which raised over £40 for the charity.

The next project is a YoungMinds bouquet that people can order or buy in the shop. This will be an all-round hand tied bouquet of seasonal flowers, including some yellow flowers as this is the main YoungMinds colour. The bouquets cost £35 or £50 and for each bouquet sold £2 or £3 respectively will go to YoungMinds. Each bouquet will also have one of the ‘Erica Berry in support of YoungMinds’ cards attached which has the charity's web address on it, so the recipient or indeed purchaser will have this information to hand.

A spokesperson for Eric Berry Flowers said: "We really hope you get behind us with these bouquets so we can raise as much money for the charity as possible and spread the word as much as we can, you never know if someone may be grateful, not only for the flowers but also for the support that will come with them."

The spokesperson added: "We chose to support YoungMinds as we are in a town with a large population of young people, many primary schools and a very large grammar school and we wanted to be able to give something back to our local community. Unfortunately, so many young people struggle with mental health issues for many many reasons, and while society is becoming much more aware of these issues, there is still a lot of stigma around mental health and a lack of knowledge about the effects these illnesses have on people.

"YoungMinds work to raise awareness of mental health issues and to give young people more information about these via their website and through education, but did you know they also have a support line phone number for parents (0808 802 5544), which I’m sure many people would find helpful if they knew it was there, so we want to help spread the word as widely as possible."

To order a YoungMinds bouquet call on 01943 968118 or email info@ericaberryflowers.co.uk. Eric Berry Flowers deliver to Ilkley and the local villages or collect from the shop on Railway Road.

For more information about YoungMinds visit www.youngminds.org.uk