Moving People/Time to Change

[nickh]

A while ago I wrote an irate post about job adverts for the Moving People campaign (there's a thread down there ). Just to remind people that this is a campaign with £18 million of funding from the Lottery/Comic Relief (yes 18 million!) which aims "To makes lives better for everyone by ending mental health discrimination" (their words).

Well they have now changed their name and rebranded to Time to Change.

The new website is at....

http://http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/about-us

And they have just sent out a newsletter. Everything is very glossy, obviously a lot of money has been spent, all the words are fine etc. etc.. But I can't help but feel a bit cynical - it all feels rather top-down, organised.

What I want to know is if people know about it? have they heard about local projects? is it really doing what Mental Health SUs want? - this is a gigantic sum of money which is supposedly being spent on our behalf - what control or involvement do we have?

It would be great to hear from people who are involved.

Nick.

 

[sreekala]

hi, I'm new to this forum and thought this might b a good place to start as i'm involved in Time to Change as part of their user/carer advisory panel. It did feel a bit top-down initially when i got involved, but i have since found out that the programme itself involved almost two yrs' consultations. There was also a research project called "Stigma Shout" which consulted with nearly 3800 users and carers, the findings of which are the basis of the campaigns that the programme is undertaking. The local projects r all different and the level of user involvement i guess depends on each local project. One of the national projects is Open Up - everyone involved in this project are service users.
As for me, I'm keen to see that "consultation" does not stand in for real involvement. So far personally i've felt that they are willing to listen and open to our opinions as "advisers." i'm hoping to go see some of the projects myself soon.

 

[ramboghettouk]

I think this healthy minds business run by brent mind is connected to moving people, went to the gym for free today courtesy of them, suspect they're getting far more money for having me on their books than i'm saving in gym costs, i'd rather someone would pay for the acupuncture i like, thats not the way it works however

As my mother says i havn't a good word for anyone

 

[blackdog]

I have been a mental health service user for around 14 years and I've never heard of moving people or time to change. But this doesn't really surprise me as I've never had a care coordinator and never had or seen a care plan, but I've taken a bucket load of pills over 14 years.

 

[rwitty]

can'tg say i'd ever actually heard of it until i read your post.

 

[nickh]

Thanks for posting with another side to the story sreekala ; it is good to hear that there are some SUs involved. It will be interesting to hear your impressions of any local projects that you do visit. My own observation would be that not only do many individual SUs not know much, if anything, about the campaign; it doesn't, in my area (Birmingham) anyway, seem to have reached out to those bodies which are already involved in this sort of work. This would be likely to lead to duplication of effort/resources. But as you say it may be that each local area is different.

Again thanks for letting us know how you see it as someone who is involved.

Nick.

 

[quality factor]

Hi , I can't remember how, but I picked up on the 'Time to Change' campaign when surfing the net. I get regular newsletters from them, not that it does me any good!! Seems to be happening down the other end of the UK..south.It seems that some areas of Mental Health are trying to be positive but there are so many folks 'missing out'...what's new??
There is obviously a huge discrepancy concerning the level of treatment received. I used to be totally dissatisfied with what was available up here in N.Wales after receiving care from Cheshire, but having been on this forum for only 3 months and reading other service user/non service user's stories, I have to be content with what I receive.
I feel I can't blame folks for 'feeling bitter',there is such a wide gap in what kind of help is available out there....to 'survive' for 14 years of tried overdoses is not on. From my experience help IS out there but to my reasoning and experience it's for the 'favoured few'.

 

[suzamatt]

I work as an secretary for a mental health trust in the north of england. We are sent copious information through the post and via email. Clinicians discuss new projects, incentives and events regularly at meetings. I have never heard of this project. I will ask around at work and let you know what people say.

The idea of trying to remove the stigma and discrimination from mental health is a huge one - I'm not convinced that £18million would do it! It is a hell of a lot of money, but, there's a lot of discrimination out there.

 

[sreekala]

That’s good feedback Nickh. If the local people are not being informed, then not much point no?
Just to clarify in light of some of the other comments – Time to Change is aimed at the general public so in that sense is not a “service” that will be offered to service users. The aim is to make a 5% shift in people’s negative attitudes towards mental health and service users. The “Like Minds Like Mine” campaign in New Zealand claims to have achieved this.
As for local projects – there are 3 in the North West, 4 in North East+Yorkshire, 3 in East Midlands, 3 in Eastern, 4 in London, 6 in the South East, 4 in the South West, 1 in West Midlands, and 5 national (England-wide) projects. (Please don’t jump at me if you think this is not the correct English regional classification – I didn’t make it up). Do have a look at their website – there’s loads more info there.
Personally, I’d like to see some changes in the way people like me are treated in society and in services. I have seen it is possible to make small shifts through collective action. So it’s worth a try I guess...

 

[nickh]

Many thanks suzamatt and sreekala.

Yes suzamatt I went to a meeting of Service Users in Psychology group in Birmingham and raised the campaign and none of the psychologists had heard of it. as far as I can tell it doesn't seem to be working through Mental Health Trusts at all and what you say adds wight to this. No I am no uncritical fan of MHTs!!!!! (that's a euphemism) but a serious national campaign on MH issues surely can't just leave them 'out of the loop'? And in Birmingham at least the MHT does have a range of user groups which are the main vehicle for SU involvement. I'm sure this is true in other areas as well.

sreekala thanks for reminding me about the web-site. I did put the address on earlier but it develops all the time. As far as local projects are concerned the page is...

http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/what-were-doing/projects

if you go there you can see a map and click on your local project. I have done this with the 1 (1! probably why not very high-profile in West Mids ) West Mids project. But the thing is I find this is a MIND physical exercise project. Worthwhile no doubt in its way but...

a.) isn't this just a way of subsidising MIND?
b.) I don't see its connection to anti-stigma/discrimination work.

If the money is to spent on 'healthy lifestyles' campaigns then I don't really see how it relates to the mission which is...(cited from web-site)...

>>Our vision:
To makes lives better for everyone by ending mental health discrimination

Our mission:
To inspire people to work together to end the discrimination surrounding mental health<<

I do completely agree about trying to make some changes however small by collective action sreekala - that is fundamental to my philosophy. But a 'Creating Healthy Lifestyles' project, however worthy it may be, doesn't seem to relate to this.

But it would be good if people clicked on the projects in their part of England and saw what was going on - maybe the West Mids is just a very bad eg. I don't feel enthused to click on all the dots myself right now.

Thanks both again.

Nick.

 

[ramboghettouk]

I think the idea is of my physical exercise thing i'm going to, that we'll go to the gym mix with ordinary people and challenge their attitudes

 

[nickh]

I'm sorry to be thick ramboghetto but I have no idea how that is meant to work!

Nick.

 

[ramboghettouk]

The idea is they'll see us at the gym and think don't they look ordinary they don't loook ill

Heard the guy who works there saying if your in that situation i guess you make the best of it

If he's in the situation of working there i guess he makes the best of it by chatting up the women

 

[nickh]

I suppose there might be some people who think that we have two heads or something, but I reckon stigma is a lot more complicated than that in general.

I'm not knocking the project ramboghetto just observing that I think as a way to combat stigma this is of limited use.

Nick.

 

[ramboghettouk]

I agree, i am knocking the project, think how much the mind people are getting and how much reaches me.

WEnt today to the gym had to pay seems you can only go on a mon morning or tue morning, theres not much of a fitness regime going once a week

Felt discussed nothing nasty but i'd rather not be discusssed, oscar wilde said the next worse thing to been talked about is not been talked about, he experienced stigma, seems to me people generally don't discuss black people to their faces but it's ok with this schitso to do that, that to me is stigma

SAw some guy in a wheelchair at the door, my experience is when people in wheelchairs go into pubs etc it takes attention awayy from me, was hoping he'd come into the gym