An 81-year-old has penned her first book to support a campaign to end the stigma associated with mental health problems.
Former pub landlady Betty Taylor, of Great Harwood, wrote children’s book ‘Harry the Hedgehog’ to raise money for the royal charity Heads Together, which is being spearheaded by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
She celebrated her first publication by entertaining children with a public reading at Great Harwood library.
The former pub landlady was inspired to write the book on the back of her own experiences with mental health problems, after being diagnosed with unipolar - a depressive illness - in her 40s.
She said: “About six months ago I just sat down and decided to write it and it just came out.
“I wrote to Prince Harry after reading about Heads Together in a magazine and I decided to do something to help them.
“I have a mental health problem myself, I have had a lot of help and being on medication I am just back to normal now.
“The health service has been a big help to me so I’d like to try and do something for someone else.”
Mrs Taylor, of Causeway, ran the Victoria Hotel pub in Great Harwood for 20 years with her first husband Sam McDonald until the end of the 1980s.
The great-grandmother added: “Writing has always helped me so it seemed a good way to give something back.
"Harry the Hedgehog is a nice little bedtime story and the kids really seem to like it. It’s about a little hedgehog that goes for a walk down the canal and ends up having friends for tea.”
Mrs Taylor added that the understanding of mental health issues has vastly improved since her diagnosis in the 1970s.
She said: “Mental health services have got a lot better, I have got a lot of help in the last two years. The knowledge just wasn’t there before.
“When I was first diagnosed, I don’t think people understood in those days what mental health was.
“A lot more people are aware of it now so there has been a big change, but I think what Prince Harry’s doing will help to take away the stigma of mental health.
"They have done a lot of good. I have sent a copy of the book to Princess Charlotte and Prince George.”
All book sale proceeds will go to the Heads Together campaign and their charity partners. It is available from shops in Great Harwood, as well as the library and Post Office, priced at £3.
