A well-known Carlisle health innovator travelled to London to speak at an event at the Houses of Parliament.

Gareth Presch is founder of the World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS), which works to improve health and wellbeing across the globe.

He was recently appointed as an expert leader by the United Nation’s Global Sustainable Index Institute (UNGSII).

This means he will now lead top level efforts to improve health and education in 30 cities worldwide, making him a key player globally.

On Monday, Mr Presch was in London to speak at a high-profile House of Commons event, focusing on mental health during pregnancy.

The HOPE event - backed by MPs Richard Harrington, Tim Loughton and Norman Lamb - aimed to raise awareness on the importance of mental wellbeing during pregnancy.

Mr Presch talked about the work WHIS has been doing to support new mums and mums-to-be, both here in Cumbria and further afield - empowering individuals and communities to improve their health and wellbeing.

The event followed a recent trip to Copenhagen as part of his new UNGSII role.

Mr Presch, who lives just outside Carlisle with his wife Krista and their two young daughters, set up WHIS to help put Cumbria on the map for health innovation.

His work has snowballed, resulting in him regularly flying around the world for high-level networking events.

He now hopes the UNGSII role will bring benefits to Carlisle and Cumbria, potentially unlocking some of the trillions of pounds of funding set aside to deliver its work.

Mr Presch is keen to see Cumbria become a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) hub. “There are great opportunities. I’m hoping to get enough support to bring an SDG hub here,” he said.

“If that was the case it would bring awareness, investment and jobs.

“UNGSII is supporting sustainable development goals in 30 cities by 2025.

“We could be part of that. The opportunity is here.”

Mr Presch’s new role will be to implement the UN’s sustainable development goals, kick-starting movements in cities across the world.

They include Montreal, Tokyo, Geneva, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Nairobi, Vienna and Barcelona.