Campaign launch - January 2009

The first burst of the Time to Change campaign, which ran from 21 January - 13 February, got the campaign off to an excellent start meeting or exceeding all of its targets and it really helped to create a public debate around mental health problems and starting to challenge stigma and discrimination.           

Some highlights

  • Advertising
    The campaign was well recognised with 42% of people saying they are aware of the campaign.   In particular the TV ad proved to add lots of recognition to the campaign.  The advertising effectively communicated our campaign messages and people found it engaging, credible, interesting and educational. 
  • Improving attitudes
    There was a slight positive shift in attitudes around mental health problems amongst people who had seen the campaign - very encouraging at these early stages.
  • Media coverage
    We had 317 pieces of national and regional media coverage on TV, in the press and on the radio, including stories in the Sun and Daily Mirror and an appearance on ITV’s GMTV.  Involving celebrities really helped to raise awareness of the issues.  For example Alastair Campbell’s involvement with the World Without helped to generate lots of media coverage.         
  • Online activity
    Our website performed well with around 60,000 visitors.  Our presence on Facebook was also a great success with 7000 people joining our group to show their support and to share their experiences.   
  • Local support
    There was a huge demand for campaign materials and lots of enthusiasm from individuals and organisations who got involved locally...

Campaign activity on the Isle of White 

'It is a truly fantastic feeling to be part of such a worthwhile campaign. A long time coming and look forward to future events’.


‘This campaign provided us with a free resource to launch mental health awareness.  We found it so useful, thanks!’.


‘It has been really rewarding and enjoyable, makes you feel you can help make a difference’.

 

What’s next?


Our January campaign was only the start of our journey towards ending mental health discrimination.  Find out about the exciting Time to Change activity that took place throughout summer and into autumn which has built on these promising results. 

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the launch such a success.  We hope you will continue to support Time to Change and join us in taking action to challenge stigma and discrimination.