Time to Change
Time to Change Pledge
Mental health problems are common - but nearly nine out of ten people who experience them say they face stigma and discrimination as a result. This can be even worse than the symptoms themselves.
Time to Change is run by the charities MIND and Rethink Mental Illness , with funding from the Department of Health, Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund. At heart, Time to Change is a social movement made up of hundreds of thousands of individuals and organisations across England, who are all working to change the way the nation thinks and acts when it comes to mental health.
They aim to empower people to challenge stigma and speak openly about their own mental health experiences, as well as changing the attitudes and behaviour of the public towards those of us with mental health problems
Hundreds of organisations are already involved and Bradford Council has now chosen to join them and made a commitment to Time to Change to tackle mental health stigma and keep our staff well for work
The Pledge is part of the MIND mental health challenge for Local Government that the Council has agreed to sign up to. Cllr Berry is the Lead Elected Member and Mark Trewin the Lead Officer for the project. Sue Dunkley, Human Resources Director is the Corporate Management Champion for Time to Change.
There are 10 points that the Council is working on to meet the MIND challenge. Point 10 is to sign up to the Time To Change pledge on mental health stigma.
Key aspects of the pledge include:
- Peer Support Volunteers - We will have a number of employees who will champion time to change. Their role will include inputting their ideas towards implementation of the pledge and where they have lived experience providing support to colleagues who may be experiencing mental health issues. If you are interested in being a Peer Support Volunteer please contact Jenny St Romaine in Employee Health (ext 1141)
- Mental Health Policy - a policy detailing the Council's approach to staff Mental Health Issues is currently being drafted by Employee Health & Wellbeing.
- Mental Health Training
- Employee Health & Wellbeing is developing a short e-learning course which will be available to all managers on mental health
- The Keeping Psychologically Healthy course in conjunction with Bradford Care Trust has been running in March and April
- The Mental Health First Aid 2-day training course is open to all employees.
Bradford Council is proud to have signed the pledge and to be focusing on combating the very real issue of the stigma concerning mental health.
More information about Time to Change can be found on the Time to Change website.
People can also make an individual pledge.