A FORMER teacher from Urmston suffering mental illness has held a street party to raise money to end the stigma of mental health.

Charlotte Schunke suffers from several disorders including: Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder and Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

In June 2016 her mental health caused her to have to leave her job as computer science teacher and head of year at Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College.

The 31-year-old said that she never believed in mental health until she developed it herself, and now wanted to use her time to support different charities and reduce the stigma surrounding it.

Charlotte invited residents from all of the 32 houses to the street party on North Grove and around 70 people attended. Everyone had a BBQ, children played on the street and Charlotte gave a speech to the guests about her story and information surrounding mental health.

She contacted a number of local businesses and asked them to donate gifts for raffles and set up a Just Giving page for people to donate.

The party was a success and she made a total of over £500 to go towards the charity Rethink Mental Illness. A charity which helps millions of people affected by mental health.

Charlotte said: "It was a really lovely day and a really good turn out. We raised loads of money for charity but also it got everyone together and strengthened our community. We live in a really nice street and it helps us get to know each other better."

Charlotte held a street party last year for Macmillan and said she want's to continue to hold the event annually, supporting a different charity each year.