Send a letter to your MP

How to find and contact your local MP 

1. Visit the UK Parliament's MP and Lords directory 
2. Click ‘Find MPs’
3. Enter your postcode and click ‘Search’
4. Contact your MP either by:
   •   Posting your letter to: [MP NAME], House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Ensuring you include your own address
   •   Copying and pasting the following letter and emailing it them at the address in the directory

If you haven’t heard back from them after about two weeks, you can follow up your email or letter with a phone call or make an appointment to go and see them at their local surgery.

Find out more about contacting your local MP on the UK's Parliament website.

Thank you for being part of the change.

How to use the letter template

On the below document, you will find a letter template to send to your MP, calling for change and advocacy. Please ensure that you do the following before sending: 

• Replace [YOUR NAME] and [YOUR ADDRESS] at the top with your own
• Replace [MP NAME] and [INSERT MP NAME] to the MPs name that you are contacting
• Change [YOUR NAME] at the bottom to your own

Template letter for MPs

[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR ADDRESS]

[MP NAME]
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Dear [INSERT MP NAME HERE],

Recently, I have learned from research by Dr Siobhan O’Dywer at the University of Birmingham that 41% of parent carers have thought about killing themselves.

A parent whose child has a disability or long-term illness is known as a ‘parent carer’ because their role goes beyond that of a parent: they are also a carer, providing round-the-clock support, often for years on end, to ensure the best possible life for their child. In Dr O’Dwyer’s research, more than half the parent carers who had thought about suicide had never felt safe enough to tell someone or seek help.

The study also found that, although the love for their child prevented many parent carers from acting on suicidal thoughts, the inability to act increased their distress. In some cases, it also led to thoughts homicide-suicide (i.e. killing their child and then killing themselves).

Although mental health problems can contribute to some thoughts of suicide, they are not the only factor and clinical interventions (such as medication or talking therapies) will not be enough to prevent deaths by suicide. Most parent carers who contemplate suicide (and homicide) are trapped in a broken system that is failing to meet their child’s needs and political intervention is required to reduce the burden on parents and improve the services and support that are available for disabled children and their families.

I am writing to you to call for a change. In particular, I am asking you to advocate for:

• The recognition of unpaid carers in the suicide prevention strategy for England.
• The creation of a national carers strategy (and for the reduction of suicidal thoughts, and the prevention of deaths by suicide, to be a priority within that strategy).
• Increased funding to the health, social care, and education services that support disabled children.
• Open and intent-driven conversations about the issues that parent carers face.

There are only a handful of studies focusing on parent carers, this being the first in the UK. The results of Dr O’Dwyer’s research should raise serious concerns about the needs and experiences of parent carers in the UK.

I am appealing to you to drive much-needed change. You can find out more about the research and watch a film highlighting the lived experience of parent carers on the University of Birmingham’s website: birmingham.ac.uk/parent-carer

Your sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]