Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Well the aim of the Time to Change programme is about changing society for good, which
is about changing the way that the public think about but more importantly
behave towards those of us with mental health problems.
And we know from our end research that one of the most powerful ways of
changing the way someone thinks about people with mental health problems is having
social contact,
having conversations and being aware that they know somebody with a mental
health problem. We know that that has the potential to change somebody's
attitudes towards those of us with mental health problem. So our programme
is all about
funding and delivering the very events that will bring the population into
contact with those of us with mental health problems in a meaningful way. So
we can come pick some of those negative thoughts.
So social contact sounds like a simple concept but it does mean having
the time and the space and the right environment
to have a meaningful conversation
between someone with a mental health problem who's openly talking about
their experiences
with somebody who doesn't have experience of a mental health problem.
So it's for those of us who do experience them to get in front of the
general population who haven't yet experienced a mental health problem
with the kind of conversations and interactions
that allows stereotypes to be challenged and people to change the way they think
about us but more importantly the way they've behave towards us.
But what we're really looking for his for communities themselves to decide what
would be the best way and most effective way of having that conversation
that brings members of the public from their communities into contact with those
members of the community with mental health problems.
If you badge everything 'mental health', if you expect people to come to a mental
health event
you haven't got a connection to the issue, you aren't going to get that.
Really you're going to get people that are closer to the issue or people that have
already got it on their agendas, probably because they or somebody that
they are close to
have experienced a mental health problem or they have worked in the sector.
Actually the purpose of these grants is to get in front of the public who don't
think they know anybody with mental health problem and don't have a
connection.
So each community will know for itself the best way of doing that whether that's
through culture or faith or arts or sports
or talking to business leaders.
So we want communities to come up with at the things that sit in social
calendars or diaries or events that can attract the public
into events where they can openly meet somebody who's talking about their mental
health problems.
But it's got to be members of the population without
experience of a mental health problem coming in to
hear from other members of the same community.