A campaign has been set up for the re-introduction of mental health asylums, in memory of her husband, whose body was found two weeks ago. Although the concept is still in its infancy, Mrs Lake said the campaign will probably be called PLEA: Paul Lake for re- Establishment of Asylums. Mr Lake, 47, was suffering from depression when he went missing last December. She said: "Paul would be alive if there were asylums. He had been saying since September 'if only Brookwood was open'. People used to be able to self-refer. Paul had been asking for help and had been assured it was coming." Since Brookwood Hospital, where Mr Lake had been treated, was sold to developers, mental health patients are now referred to Farnham Road Hospital. The hospital's area includes Guildford, Godalming, Cranleigh, Haslemere, Leatherhead, Dorking, Horley, Reigate and Redhill. It has 20 beds for men up to the age of 60. Twenty beds for women up to the age of 60, and 40 beds split between two wards for more elderly patients. "The number of people who have killed themselves has gone up significantly. PLEA is about the amount of people whose desperation is increasing – where do they go? What do they do? "At Farnham Road the staff are saints, but the building itself is hideous. It overlooks a car park and a railway line. "A railway line isn't the best thing for people who are suicidal to be looking at, and by contrast – when you look at Brookwood, there were gardens. It was beautiful. "If someone has decided to kill themselves, they will do it and what I am saying is: 'predictable and preventable'. "Paul's was totally predictable I stayed up with him. I was so worried, I'd literally been up the Sunday night and all night the Monday night. I was dozing so that I could be around him, talk – whatever. "I believe it was preventable. I believe that had Brookwood been open instead of being sold off, Paul would have admitted himself there earlier. Because he knew that he had got an illness that was cyclic and knew that it would pass." Last Thursday the Coroner's Office returned Mr Lake's rings which Mrs Lake now wears on a chain around her neck. "There is no closure. It is quite funny because, I believed that he had killed himself. I believed that the day he went. "Anybody who knows me will tell you that in my heart I knew he was dead from the day he went. But what I have got now is understanding that he is dead. "The rings are really significant, important – I almost feel as though Paul has given them back to me – in the nicest way. I had given them to him and he wanted me to have them back. "I believe PLEA will be Paul's legacy. It came into my head three or four days after he went – I thought of PLEA. He left us a lot," she said. Mr and Mrs Lake were together for 11 and a half years. The couple first met when Mrs Lake was a nurse at one of the hospitals where Mr Lake was a patient. Since her husband went missing, Mrs Lake said "it felt like living with the status quo, as everything carried on as normal". It was when Christine Tebbitt, from the parish council, arrived at her front door with the police, that she knew why they had come. "The feeling was that he is not lost anymore. That feeling of being out there somewhere in all the elements. I really felt we can look after his body now and be respectful to him and the manner of his death." Mr Lake suffered from bipolar disorder which is a brain disorder that causes manic depression. The disorder's symptoms include unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy and ability to function. Mr Lake's funeral took place yesterday. Those who attended included family and friends. Also present was the headmaster from Godalming school, who recognised Mr Lake's artistic talents at the age of nine and Dr Watts, who treated Mr Lake. Boxer, Nigel Benn who commissioned a painting by Mr Lake, sent a message of sympathy to Mr Lake's sister's MySpace page. Many of the staff that worked at Brookwood hospital also attended. They had known Paul when he was first admitted at the age of 15. "They were genuinely fond of him. It was a safe place for him and that is why I want to use the word 'asylum'. Paul absolutely believed in the rights of asylum seekers but he would say it's ironic that my (Mr Lake's) asylum has been sold off and is luxury flats now," said Mrs Lake. In fact the subject Mr Lake's most famous painting 'Barmy Days' was painted about the closure of Brookwood. The painting is on permanent display at SANE's International Research Centre in Oxford. For Mrs Lake, time will be spent in the garden – which is a passion. Keeping Mrs Lake company is Pip, 5, a rescue dog. There is the setting up of PLEA plus gathering her husband's paintings for an exhibition which will be a celebration of his life. But she is, she says, "still coming to terms with what has happened". "Paul was a huge personality. It was very, very hard to live with Paul and the severity of his bi polar. But it is very much harder for me now. There is a just a void where Paul was."
