The Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and the Welsh Language has agreed funding a 12-month extension to Phase 3 of Time to Change Wales.
Welsh Government has awarded a total of £445,996 to Time to Change Wales for the continuation of core activity with a focus on better reaching socio-economically deprived communities and identifying the needs of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities in Wales with detailed audience insight, developing partnerships and testing pilot activity.
Time to Change Wales is the first national campaign to end mental health stigma and discrimination and improve attitudes to mental health in Wales. The campaign is delivered by a partnership of two leading Welsh charities; Hafal and Mind Cymru and currently joint-funded by the Welsh Government and Comic Relief until 31 March, after which the programme will be solely funded by Welsh Government until March 2022. Time to Change Wales is also driven by people with lived experience of mental health problems and individuals with expertise relevant to the campaign.
Time to Change Wales has introduced two new areas of priority:
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To strengthen the workplace wellbeing offer with a new focus on socio-economically deprived communities by working with employers and more closely with government bodies and initiatives such as Healthy Working Wales, Public Health Wales and the Department for Work and Pensions.
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Researching mental health stigma within Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities in Wales. Through this listening exercise, Time to Change Wales hopes to better represent the needs and views of individuals from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.
Lowri Wyn Jones, Programme Manager for Time to Change Wales said: “We are delighted to be receiving this funding which will allow us to continue our important work of tackling mental health stigma and discrimination in Wales. We will draw on our extensive experience of delivering a national movement for change and refine our focus on audiences where we have seen less engagement with the campaign to date.
This will mean working in partnership with organisations on the ground across Wales to deliver the scale of our ambition. We believe that tackling stigma continues to be a key priority if we are to see a more compassionate, more tolerant society as we emerge from the global pandemic.”
Mental Health and Wellbeing Minister Eluned Morgan said: “I’m pleased this funding will allow Time to Change Wales to research mental health stigma within Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities in Wales, so we can better understand their views and needs, as we strive to ensure everyone has the confidence to seek mental health support whenever they need it.”
The Time to Change Wales website is packed with information, testimonies and advice about tackling stigma. Visit timetochangewales.org.uk and follow the campaign on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.