Cambridge trust leads the way in organisational support for Time to Change
Last week saw the announcement that Time to Change is due to continue for another 3 and a half years – and of course it was World Mental Health Day – so unsurprisingly it seems that mental health is on people’s minds at the moment. We’re very pleased that we’ve had a surge in pledges to end mental health discrimination recently, and they’ve been coming from many different areas of society.
We invite organisations across England to show their commitment to stamping out mental health discrimination by publicly signing a statement in support of Time to Change. Since the programme started, organisations large and small, from a whole range of sectors, have signed up, and in the last few weeks we’ve had even more signatures to add to the list.
We’ve been out and about with our pledge board and our marker pen, and recent pledgers have been putting on a host of different activities to welcome us and mark their sign-up. One of our most notable new signees is the Cambridge University Hospitals Trust – just the second acute care provider to do so. Here’s a selection of who else has been signing on the dotted line –and what they’ve been up to…
Speak Up CIC – 15 September – Kent
User-led community group Speak Up puts on activities through which people can share their experiences of mental health care and feed in to the way that services in their area are run. They put on a kite flying event on the beach in Margate to celebrate signing their pledge – Time to Change staff who went down for the signing had a great day out!
Cambridge University Hospitals – 26 September – Cambridge
We were particularly excited when Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust approached us about signing a pledge, because - as mentioned above - they're only the second acute health care provider to tackle mental health discrimination by showing their support for Time to Change.
By signing up to our pledge, they're showing that it's not just mental health service providers who can address discrimination - it's important to consider the issues in physical health care because of course, people with mental health problems experience physical health problems too. In fact, the physical health needs of people with mental health problems are often dismissed, causing higher rates of death from heart attacks, diabetes and cancer.
The signing was part of a week of activities at the Trust's Addenbrooke's hospital, to raise awareness about mental health and help staff and patients and their families to feel more comfortable talking about mental health issues.
Yorkshire Evening Post and Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust – 27 September – Leeds
Leeds has become something of a hotbed for anti-discrimination activity, with Time to Change Leeds going from strength to strength – so it was great to see Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust keeping up the good work by getting their local newspaper on board with their fight against discrimination. The pledge signing took place on the Trust’s annual members’ day, and also marked the launch of their Love Arts festival, which is ongoing until November. Ruby Wax joined us on the day, to meet with Time to Change Leeds volunteers and share her personal experiences of mental ill health.
Ramblers UK – 28 September – London
It’s a well-known fact that walking is great for your mental wellbeing, so with that in mind, it made perfect sense for Britain’s walking charity Ramblers UK to join forces with Time to Change. The charity celebrated their pledge signing with a short walk through the East End of London led by Mind in Newham and Tower Hamlets, demonstrating how walking and talking can bring people together and help bring an end to mental health discrimination.
Civil Service Benevolent Fund – 07 October – London
The Civil Service Benevolent Fund is a membership organisation that provides financial help and advice to civil servants and their families. They made their pledge as part of their new initiative, “Health on Your Mind”, which aims to promote mental wellbeing in the workplace across the civil service.
Church of England General Synod – 10 October – London
The Church of England gave their official blessing to our campaign on World Mental Health Day. The pledge was signed at a meeting of their national Committee for Ministry by and with Deaf and Disabled People to celebrate the launch of a new pack that provides ideas and resources for churches to plan worship on the theme of mental health. The toolkit was designed by the Church of England’s mental health group and the Revd Eva Macintyre in collaboration with us, and is available to download from our website.
Everton Football Club – 10 October – Liverpool
Everton made their best save of the season on World Mental Health Day when goalie Marcus Hahnemann put his name to the Time to Change pledge. The keeper also hosted a Q&A session with men who take part in Everton in the Community’s branch of Time to Change’s Imagine Your Goals project. Imagine Your Goals offers local people who are living with mental health issues the chance to talk about their problems and seek help and support whilst playing football together, so it was the perfect setting for the club to demonstrate their support for our anti-discrimination pledge.
Burton and South Derbyshire College – 11 October – Burton on Trent
This further education college put mental health awareness firmly onto the curriculum when they pledged to help students with a mental health condition access the support they need, and hold regular tutorials on stigma and discrimination and how to reduce it throughout the college.
Thanks to all these fantastic people who put on some great events to raise awareness and mark the signing of their pledge. We’re hoping to engage with even more organisations now we’ve started our next phase of work. If you’d like to find out more about how your organisation can pledge to stamp out mental health stigma, take a look at our web page, or contact us.
Look who’s pledging this month
Cambridge hospital leads the way in organisational support of Time to Change
Last week saw the announcement that Time to Change is due to continue for another 31/2 years – and of course it was World Mental Health Day – so unsurprisingly it seems that mental health is on people’s minds at the moment. We’re very pleased that we’ve had a surge in pledges to end mental health discrimination recently, and they’ve been coming from many different areas of society.
We invite organizations across England to show their commitment to stamping out mental health discrimination by publicly signing a statement in support of Time to Change. Since Time to Change started, organizations large and small, from a whole range of sectors, have signed up, and in the last few weeks we’ve had even more signatures to add to the list.
We’ve been out and about with our pledge board and our marker pen, and recent pledgers have been putting on a host of different activities to welcome us and mark their sign-up. One of our most notable new signees is the Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge – just the second acute care trust to do so. Here’s a selection of who’s been signing on the dotted line –and what they’ve been up to…
Speak Up CIC – 15 September – Kent
User-led community group Speak Up puts on activities through which people can share their experiences of mental health care and feed in to the way that services in their area are run. They put on a kite flying event on the beach in Margate to celebrate signing their pledge – Time to Change staff who went down for the signing had a great day out!
Cambridge University Hospitals – 26 September – Cambridge
We were particularly excited when Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust approached us about signing a pledge, because - as mentioned above - they're only the second acute health care provider to tackle mental health discrimination by showing their support for Time to Change.
By signing up to our pledge, they're showing that it's not just mental health service providers who can address discrimination - it's important to consider the issues in physical health care because of course, people with mental health problems experience physical health problems too. In fact, the physical health needs of people with mental health problems are often dismissed, causing higher rates of death from heart attacks, diabetes and cancer.
The signing was part of a week of activities at the Trust's Addenbrooke's hospital, to raise awareness about mental health and help staff and patients and their families to feel more comfortable talking about mental health issues.
Yorkshire Evening Post and Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust – 27 September – Leeds
Leeds has become something of a hotbed for anti-discrimination activity, with Time to Change Leeds going from strength to strength – so it was great to see Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust keeping up the good work by getting their local newspaper on board with their fight against discrimination. The pledge signing took place on the Trust’s annual members’ day, as part of their Love Arts festival, which is ongoing until November.
Ramblers UK – 28 September – London/nationwide
It’s a well-known fact that walking is great for your mental wellbeing, so with that in mind, it made perfect sense for Britain’s walking charity Ramblers UK to join forces with Time to Change. The charity celebrated their pledge signing with a short walk through the East End of London led by Mind in Newham and Tower Hamlets, demonstrating how walking and talking can bring people together and help bring an end to mental health discrimination.
Civil Service Benevolent Fund – 07 October – London
The Civil Service Benevolent Fund is a membership organization that provides financial help and advice to civil servants and their families. They made their pledge as part of their new initiative, “Health on Your Mind”, which aims to promote mental wellbeing in the workplace across the civil service.
Church of England General Synod – 10 October – London
The Church of England gave their official blessing to our campaign on World Mental Health Day. The pledge was signed at a meeting of their national Committee for Ministry by and with Deaf and Disabled People to celebrate the launch of a new pack that provides ideas and resources for churches to plan worship on the theme of mental health. The toolkit was designed by the Church of England’s mental health group and the Revd Eva Macintyre in collaboration with us, and is available to download from our website.
Everton Football Club – 10 October – Liverpool
Everton made their best save of the season on World Mental Health Day when goalie Marcus Hahnemann put his name to the Time to Change pledge. The keeper also hosted a Q&A session with men who take part in Everton in the Community’s branch of Time to Change’s Imagine Your Goals project. Imagine Your Goals offers local people who are living with mental health issues the chance to talk about their problems and seek help and support whilst playing football together, so it was the perfect setting for the club to demonstrate their support for our anti-discrimination pledge.
Burton and South Derbyshire College – 11 October – Burton on Trent
This further education college put mental health awareness firmly onto the curriculum when they pledged to help students with a mental health condition access the support they need, and hold regular tutorials on stigma and discrimination and how to reduce it throughout the college.
Thanks to all these fantastic people who put on some great events to raise awareness and mark the signing of their pledge. We’re hoping to engage with even more organizations now we’ve started our next phase of work. If you’d like to find out more about how your organization can pledge to stamp out mental health stigma, take a look at our web page, or contact us.