Recruiting volunteers

Having enough volunteers is key to the success of your project – it may help you to have a team of ‘lead volunteers’ who plan all the events and meet regularly; and then a number of ‘general volunteers’ who are all trained, but their primary role is to help at events or on stalls.

• Think about how to recruit volunteers – are there any courses that link into mental health that you can go and speak to?
• Make sure to have a stall at any fairs for recruitment of volunteers (Freshers/ Societies)
• Try to get all everyone involved in some way. If people aren’t comfortable about speaking about their own mental health, find them a task that they can do behind the scenes such as creating resources or planning an event.
• Everyone will have different skills. One volunteer might be really savvy when it comes to social media, while another might have lots of contacts within the university. Utilise the skills of your volunteers!
• You might also consider signing up as a Time to Change Champion as part of your awareness raising. And don’t forget, Time to Change provide great face-to-face and online training for volunteers. This can also be put on students' CVs when they are looking for a job.

Planning your events

• Start by marking down the key mental health dates. e.g. Time to Talk Day, University Mental Health Day etc. Plan out which dates you can do something on throughout the year and how long it will take to plan for them.
• Think about students and what activities you can do that will relate to them and make the biggest impact. Plan an activity around Christmas as it can be a lonely time for some students who stay on campus or in the UK
• Understand what the students at your university want and need, and try to cater for these. Asking a range of students about their experiences of mental health will help you see what you can do to break down the stigma. You could consider conducting a short survey.
• Don’t try to do much in your first year – it takes longer than you think to plan a large event. You can also upload these onto the Time to Change website, as well as see other events taking place locally.

Use your contacts

Need some support organising your event? You might want to think about using your contacts with within the university and at Time to Change.

• Students' Union: The SU will likely have a great communications department. Don’t forget to let the University’s communications team know about events as well, as they might be able to send someone to cover them too. The Time to Change website has great resources and posters which can be edited easily and printed out to promote events:
• Time to Change: Communicate with your Time to Change Community Equalities Coordinator. Ask them questions – that’s what they are there for.
• Societies: Are they any mental health societies at the university? Would they be able to help get the word out about the group? Do they have any resources or contacts?

Getting the word out/promotion

• Use social media and blogs to share your experiences, and challenge mental illness stigma online. You can also blog for Time to Change.
• Mental health is not often spoken about in sport. Try to get clubs involved in whatever capacity possible, such as writing pledge cards which you can display and promote on Time to Talk Day.