Time to Change

Amidst all the consultation activity I was delighted to find time to speak at the launch of Time To Change on Wednesday morning.

This is an ambitious and exciting movement seeking to end discrimination against people with mental health problems. As Stephen Fry says “One in four people have a mental health problem. Many more have a problem with that.”

Over three years, the Big Lottery Fund has found £16m from our Well-being programme to put the rocket boosters under the campaign and we’ve been delighted to work alongside Comic Relief whose £2m is their biggest ever single UK award. Time to Change is a powerful alliance of Mind, Rethink and Mental Health Media and is evaluated by the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, London.

We heard powerful speeches from those associated with Time To Change which brought alive many of the problems that arise from – often subconscious – prejudice against those with mental health problems. Sensationalised media reporting came up regularly. Will the media show interest not only in drawing attention to this very important issue but also reflect on their part in why it has such a hold on the way many people think about “psychos”, “weirdos” and “nutters”.  Could you help?  Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, plus around 35 other MPs, signed up yesterday.

Check out the Time To Change website for more details.