Time to Change, England’s biggest mental health anti-stigma programme, run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, is spearheading a new initiative offering journalists and programme makers from all sectors an insight into mental health to ensure that reporting of the issue is done fairly and accurately.

This evening (Monday 16th April), to launch the initiative, Time to Change is holding an event for journalists from top women’s lifestyle magazines. It is hoped that the evening will encourage journalists to talk about how mental health is covered in magazines and find out more from people with direct experience.

Held at The Hospital Club in central London, the night will be hosted by author, former magazine editor and columnist Sally Brampton, who will talk about her experiences of mental illness and give her insider view of working in the magazine world. There will be other top speakers including the Editor of Glamour magazine Jo Elvin, who will tell all about their new campaign about depression, ‘Hey, it’s Ok’, fronted by The Saturdays singer Frankie Sandford. Finally a debate will be held with a panel of people who have mental health problems followed by networking opportunities.

Jenni Regan, Senior Media Advisor at Time to Change, said: “A key aim is to get journalists and programme makers talking about mental health. We believe media portrayals and reporting of mental health problems are an incredibly powerful tool for educating and influencing the public, when they are done accurately and sensitively. We hope that all of our guests enjoy the night and leave with a view of how they can make a difference to people living with mental health problems through the copy they write.”

Further media networking events will be held throughout the year for journalists and programme makers working in other sectors. Visit our 'Media Advisory Services page to keep a track of what’s coming up.

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For more information please contact Hayley Richardson, Time to Change Senior Media Officer, on [email protected] or 0208 2152 358/ 07789 721 966. Follow Hayley on Google+ 


Notes to Editors

Time to Change
Time to Change is England's most ambitious programme to end the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems.  The programme is run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, and funded by the Department of Health and Comic Relief. 

For more information go to www.time-to-change.org.uk

Department of Health
On 2 February 2011 the Department of Health launched No health without mental health, a cross-government mental health outcomes strategy for people of all ages which has the twin aims of keeping people well and improving their mental health and, when people are not well, improving their outcomes through high-quality services.

The strategy is based on six shared objectives, developed with partners from across the mental health sector, and focuses on ‘Recovery’ and the reduction of stigma and discrimination as overarching themes. 

To help deliver the objective to reduce the stigma faced by people with mental health problems, in 2011 the Department agreed to support Time to Change, the anti-stigma campaign run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness. The Department of Health is providing the campaign with up to £16 million of funding together with a further £4 million from Comic Relief. This funding will help Time to Change continue their work until March 2015.

Comic Relief
Comic Relief is committed to supporting people living with mental health problems. The projects Comic Relief funds ensure people with mental health problems get their voices heard in the decisions that affect their lives and get the help they need to recover. Comic Relief also helps people to promote their rights and reduce the stigma and discrimination they face so that they feel more included in society.  The £4 million grant to Time to Change is the second time the charity has awarded Time to Change its largest UK grant and is part of Comic Relief's long standing commitment to this issue. For more information go to www.comicrelief.com