World Mental Health Day was celebrated at a Tooting recovery college with a balloon release.

At 2pm this afternoon 250 balloons with messages of hope attached to them were released with the help of MP Sadiq Khan into the sky from Springfield Hospital.

Last year one message made it to Finland.

The Tooting MP praised the work of the south west London recovery college which opened in 2010 and was the first of its kind.

He said: "Too many young people are not getting the help they need, Springfield does fantastic work and we need to help them."

"What’s great is that is it used as a beacon for other hospitals around the country and around the world."

Jeremey Coutinho, manager of the recovery college, said: "It’s a showpiece when the colourful balloons go out, it’s beautiful, it’s uplifting and inspirational, it’s an event we can mark."

Miles Rinaldi, head of recovery at the trust, said: "We need positive events like this to showcase what the NHS is doing, there are so many fantastic services that go on here."

World Mental Health Day is Saturday, October 10 with events going on throughout the whole month.

This year’s theme is dignity.