WEDNESDAY, 16 JULY, 2025

Photograph attached: Patient Caitlin McRitchie and peer support worker Jamie Stewart at the launch of Molly and Mr Monkey

Carseview patient and staff collaborate to create children’s mental health book

A patient at Carseview Centre has teamed up with a peer support worker to create a children’s book focusing on the daily impact of mental health.

During their peer support sessions Caitlin McRitchie and Jamie Stewart came up with the idea for Molly and Mr Monkey, an inspiring story of a young girl and her experience of mental health.

They spent eight months working together on the book, channelling their lived experience into a child friendly display of Mr Monkey as a metaphor for the unpredictability of mental health on a daily basis. Their hope was to encourage children to speak openly and honestly about their emotions, feelings and experiences, all while having fun reading about the hi-jinx of Molly, Mr Monkey and their friends.

Jamie, who works in NHS Tayside’s quality improvement and practice development (QIPD) team, said, “Caitlin had the idea to do a kid's book, that was a dream of hers, and I knew l could use my graphic design background to help. We came up with the story pretty quickly but it was tweaked many times as we wanted to get the right message across, that was important to us both.

“I would draw out a rough storyboard and we would discuss the text. I have never really drawn cartoons on the computer but l know my way around graphics programs, so we set about painting backgrounds with water colours, scanned them in and started to draw the characters.

“I loved being in a team with Caitlin. Both of us are very proud of how it turned out. It was hard work but so much fun! When I showed my team the progress we had made, they could not have been more supportive, they helped me with the next steps to get the book printed.

“We launched the book during Carseview’s Wellbeing Week in May. A huge assembly of staff and patients gave us a very warm welcome. We both answered lots of questions and had a brilliant day.”

Caitlin added, “I really enjoyed doing the book and I hope that whoever reads it understands the hard work that went into it. I hope it brings as much joy to people as it did to me and Jamie in creating it.”

Caitlin and Jamie were supported by staff at Carseview, the QIPD team and senior nurse Danielle Gorrie to access funding to bring this story to life through vibrant, hardback books, and will continue to be involved in helping them to share their story as far as possible.

Donna Robertson, QIPD senior nurse said “This is a wonderful example of the impact that the peer recovery worker role can have on person-centred care.  Peer recovery workers offer unique benefits in mental health settings by using their lived experience to support and inspire others in their recovery journey.”

Contact:

Louise Wilson

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 740718