Today, it has been announced that we have been awarded a further £3.6million by the Big Lottery Fund to deliver targeted work to drive major social change by challenging the stigma and discrimination that people with mental health problems face.

The grant, which comes in addition to existing funding from the Department of Health and Comic Relief, will see our programme transform the attitudes and behaviour of millions though social marketing and community engagement activities, bringing people with and without experience of mental health problems together to engage in conversations. This has been proven to be effective in breaking down stigma and improving attitudes.

Projects funded by the new grant will focus on specific communities and groups that are particularly at risk from stigma and discrimination including the African and Caribbean community, children and young people, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGB&T) people.

The new funding will mean that we are able to:

• Use more TV advertising (alongside other media) to reach 37.4 million people and improve attitudes and behaviour towards people with mental health problems.

• Deliver a pilot social marketing campaign to target African and Caribbean communities in order to improve attitudes towards mental health within these groups.

• Launch a new pilot to develop interventions and training to reduce the dual discrimination faced by young African and Caribbean men with mental health problems using services.

• Focus on reducing mental health stigma within LGB&T communities through the Mind Out project.

• Run a local programme in Bristol which will empower hundreds of volunteers with experience of mental health problems to start conversations about mental health across the city.

• Offer training and networking sessions to people from African and Caribbean, rural and LGB&T communities, as well as older people and people with physical disabilities, from across England.

• Develop a networking and peer learning programme to support organisations to tackle workplace stigma and discrimination.

• Deliver 10 events which will challenge stigma and discrimination in communities around England. The events will enable people with mental health problems to develop leadership skills.

• Work with children and young people on a programme of activities that will challenge mental health stigma and discrimination in secondary schools.

Sue Baker, Director of Time to Change, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded an additional £3.6million from the Big Lottery Fund. This funding will allow us invest in more targeted work with marginalised communities severely affected by mental health stigma and discrimination including African and Caribbean communities as well with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people.

“We will also be able to roll out our campaign for children and young people beyond our current pilot region and into another five parts of the country, working with 25 schools to reach 11 to 18 year olds. This work will help boost our current funding from the Department of Health and Comic Relief to help us ensure that improvements in public attitudes and reductions discrimination benefit all communities.”