Kingston awarded Time to Change funding to tackle mental health stigma
Time to Change Kingston will be joining 13 funded Hubs and approximately 30 organic Hubs across England to help change the way we all think and act about mental health problems.
The Hub will combine the insights of the national Time to Change campaign with local knowledge. They will support communities, workplaces and schools to take action to end negative attitudes and behaviours towards people experiencing mental health problems in their communities.
In Kingston, the hub will be led by local champions working jointly with Kingston Council as Time to Change Hub host, Healthwatch Kingston as the Time to Change Hub coordinator, Mind in Kingston and over 20 other local organisations from the voluntary sector, the health service and businesses.
As the chair of Healthwatch Kingston I know how much partnership work has gone into preparing this bid. The funding will equip us to build on our current activities to tackle the stigma of mental health problems and enable more people in Kingston to seek help and support.
In response to this work, our Chief Officer, Stephen Bitti said:
As the Time to Change Kingston Hub Coordinator, the team at Healthwatch Kingston is delighted Kingston is now a funded Hub. We look forward to working with local people, many experiencing mental health problems, to change the way everyone in Kingston thinks and acts about mental health.
Our partnership with Hub Host, the Royal Borough of Kingston and a range of other local organisations and businesses, means we can look forward to supporting local Time to Change Champions. Now, anyone living in the Borough can learn about and get involved with this important social movement campaign.
When 1 in 4 of us will fight a mental health problem in any given year and suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 40, it’s vital that we come together to end mental health stigma. Our network of Time to Change Hubs are able to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination in their community.
Time to Change, the national campaign run by charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, launched its first regional Hubs in March 2017. The announcement of eight further funded Hubs, including Kingston, is part of the campaign’s three year plan to establish a network of Hubs across England to provide a focus for local campaigning work.
Each funded Hub is provided with £15,000 start-up budget along with £10,000 for a Champions Fund where local champions can bid for funding to run stigma busting events and activities within their area.
Since their initial launch, Time to Change Hubs have successfully campaigned to end mental health stigma and discrimination. Their work has ranged from stopping a stigmatising theatre show ‘Psycho Asylum’ from touring the country to supporting Time to Talk Day (7 February 2019), running events and delivering campaigns aimed at improving understanding and respect for people living with a mental health problem.
We're living in interesting times. No-one should feel barred from asking for help. There is a role for individuals, communities and businesses to help remove the barriers. Whoever you are, whatever you do, if you want to be involved, talk to us.
