Organisational pledge

Why pledge?

As an organisation, pledging to support Time to Change is a public display of your commitment to tackling mental health discrimination.

It demonstrates to your staff, service users, members, customers and community that you are leading the way in addressing stigma and discrimination.

Importantly, it also shows this commitment has support from the top – helping to inspire a culture in your organisation where discrimination has no place, and work to actively challenge stigma can flourish.

By pledging, you will be aligning your organisation with a major national movement for change, and showing leadership in tackling this last great taboo.

Join many NHS trusts and PCTs, universities, local authorities, the Premier League, Comic Relief, BT, E.ON, and Citizens Advice and pledge your support now.

What does pledging involve?

Pledging should be a public commitment to supporting Time to Change, so we would like senior representatives from your organisation to publicly sign our ‘Pledge board’.

To get maximum impact we advise that you arrange to sign the pledge at an event your organisation is already planning, such as a board meeting, AGM or launch event, and invite the local media along for a photo opportunity.

We will produce the pledge board to use at the signing event, and you can then display this in your organisation as a sign of your commitment.

If possible we can arrange for a representative of Time to Change to talk about the importance of tackling mental health discrimination and co-sign the pledge with you.

What does the pledge mean and how can you implement it?

The Time to Change pledge means your organisation has committed to tackling stigma and discrimination. Every organisation is different, so there are various ways that you can put this commitment into action.

You should consider how your organisation is tackling mental health stigma in all its various capacities – as an employer, a community leader, a membership organisation, or a service provider.

There are many things you can do – here are some ideas:

Run a Time to Change activity and get the message out there wherever you can
Use our five step plan and top tips to get started

Combat stigma in the workplace using our Time to Challenge resources
There are tailored resources for line managers and employees, with advice on issues such as making reasonable adjustments, disclosure, and creating a mentally healthy workplace. Incorporate mental health training into your induction or training programmes.

Promote the Time to Change pledge – individuals as well as organisations can pledge to help end mental health prejudice, by signing up online or on our pledge postcards. Could you ask all of your employees or members to pledge?

Review your policies and procedures – your pledge could be a prompt to look at changes you could make to ensure your organisation sets a standard for others in challenging discrimination and promoting wellbeing at work?

Engage other organisations – mental health is everyone’s business and affects all walks of life, so working in partnership can be an effective way of ensuring the whole community is involved.

Encourage a culture of openness – senior people in your organisation speaking out about their own experiences of mental health problems will help to empower others to feel able to do the same.