The number of organisations across England that have committed to tackling mental health stigma and discrimination in the workplace has risen to an unprecedented high, with 300 employers signing our organisational pledge. The employers signing up come from a wide range of sectors, from corporate and government departments to local authorities and universities.

HSBC becomes the 300th organisation to sign the pledge today. The pledge is an aspirational statement that organisations make to show that they are taking action to reduce mental health discrimination in the workplace. Each pledge is backed by a comprehensive action plan detailing the tangible anti stigma activity the organisation intends to deliver. 

HSBC joins other financial institutions such as the Bank of England, Barclays, Amex, Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland in running anti-stigma activity.

Since signing the pledge in October 2013, the Bank of England has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to providing mental health support to its employees, including taking part in the first ever Time to Talk Day. We also recently caught up with Barclays who talked to us about how they are implementing their action plan, which all organisations have to provide before signing the pledge.

2014 has also seen the first national newspaper, the Sunday Mirror, and retailer, Marks and Spencer, make their pledges to promote greater understanding of mental health within the workplace and commit to implementing anti-stigma activity with their employees.  

Samantha Veasey, Head of Health and Employee Wellbeing at M&S says:

“I fully support the Time to Change campaign and I'm delighted M&S can demonstrate this by signing the pledge and joining the movement to end mental health stigma.”

The deadline to sign the Time to Change pledge in this phase of Time to Change has now passed, but there are still plenty of ways for your organisation to get involved, including in the next Time to Talk Day. Find out about all of the organisations that have pledged and what you can do in your workplace in the ‘Get your workplace involved’ section of the website.

Why not take part in Time to Talk Day 2015?

Thursday 5 February 2015 is Time to Talk Day, and we’re asking the nation to take 5 minutes to have a conversation about mental health. There are lots of ways that you can make your 5 minutes count, and we have some suggestions for what you can do in your workplace. Let us know what you're planning for the day and order your pack.