Thursday February 4th is this year’s Time To Talk Day.
This day is dedicated to Mental Health Awareness and hopes to encourage conversations about Mental Health and Wellbeing.
One in four of us will at some point in the next three months experience some Mental Health issue.
You are invited to take the time to talk with someone, a colleague, a friend, a relative and start with a simple “How Are You?”
A small conversation about mental health has the power to make a big difference.
We know that the more conversations we have, the more myths we can bust and barriers we can break down, helping to end the isolation, shame and worthlessness that too many of us with mental health problems are made to feel.
Time to Talk Day is the day that we get the nation talking about mental health. This year’s event might look a little different, but at times like this open conversations about mental health are more important than ever.
We need your help to start the conversation this Time to Talk Day – together we can end mental health stigma.
Sign up for Time to Talk Day updates and inspiration to help you get the conversation started. https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/time-talk-day
West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership (WY&H HCP) will launch an innovative staff suicide prevention campaign targeted at more than 100,000 health, care, voluntary and community service colleagues working in organisations large and small across the area.
Launching on the 4 February ‘Time to Talk’ day, the campaign aims to get people in the workplace talking about mental health to prevent the risk of suicide. Over 160 organisations have already registered to get involved (accurate 25 Jan).
Preventing suicide in targeted areas by 2022 is one of WY&H HCP’s 10 big ambitions. National figures published by the Office of National Statistics on 1 September 2020 show that Yorkshire and the Humber region had the highest suicide rate in England at 12 suicides per 100,000 population over a three year period between 2017 and 2019. In West Yorkshire and Harrogate, there was an increase from 10.6 per 100,000 between 2016-18 to 11.9 between 2017 and 2019.
WY&H HCP’s ‘Check-in’ campaign aims to prevent staff suicide and promote a wellbeing culture by normalising the conversation around suicide and mental health as well as providing training, including links to credible sources such as the Zero Suicide Alliance, and signposting to support in and out the workplace.
The campaign, co-produced with people who have direct experience of suicide, has been created by staff coming together from NHS services, councils, Healthwatch and community groups, including the Samaritans and Platform 1 in Huddersfield.
WY&H HCP has secured funding from NHS England/NHS Improvement to the end of March 2022 of more than £1million to develop and maintain a Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub for all staff working in health and care services in West Yorkshire and Harrogate. The campaign will link to this important support.
Rob Webster, CEO Lead for WY&H HCP said: ‘While people at risk of suicide may try to hide how they are feeling, they often give out warning signs, when at work. You might notice changes in their behaviour or be aware of events in their life that could be affecting them. Many of us may be unsure what to say, or how to approach the situation. By knowing what to look for, having the skills and confidence to have a conversation and provide support, you can make a huge difference to someone’s life. I’m urging everyone to get involved so they know the signs and how to respond by doing the online training provided at www.zerosuicidealliance.com’
Dr Sara Munro, CEO for Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and CEO Lead for WY&H HCP Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Programme said: ‘We hope that this vital initiative will help normalise the conversation and increase confidence so suicide and mental health can be discussed, without stigma or judgement, as part of everyday workplace conversation. The Partnership is establishing a staff mental health wellbeing hub which will complement local help whilst bringing together many different sources of support, and suicide prevention is integral to that work’.
Professor Brendan Brown, CEO for Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and CEO Lead for West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership Workforce Programme said: ‘Whether front-line, office, service or community, neighbourhood based, we all work incredibly hard to provide care and support to our communities, and this can take its toll. This campaign will help us work together to create a culture in which we acknowledge ourselves as people who also need care and support – where looking after ourselves and our colleagues is seen as a vital part of our role and responsibility in order to continue to provide the best health and care for everyone across West Yorkshire and Harrogate’.
Cllr Tim Swift, Chair of WY&H Partnership Board and Leader of Calderdale Council, said: ‘I’m delighted that over 160 organisations across West Yorkshire and Harrogate have signed up to this important campaign, including community led groups, Healthwatch, councils and hospitals. By spotting the signs in both our work and personal lives we can all prevent suicide and support one another better to have good mental health’.
Open to all, you can join the campaign now at https://bit.ly/2Nh0wfr or find out more about this important work at staffcheck-in.co.uk/toolkit from the 4 February 2021.
…or talk to a friend who feels all at sea?
Surprisingly, for many the jellyfish is the preferred option.
But it need not be.
One in 4 of us experience a mental health problem each year.
It is not unusual.
It is not contagious.
A few words could be all it takes.
Time to Change work to promote discussion around the issues and preconceptions surrounding Mental Health.
It may be that the issue frightens you. It may be that it resonates within you for personal reasons.
It may be Time to Talk.
Visit Time to Change and find out how you can be the difference.
This year’s Time to Talk Day on Thursday 7 February is all about bringing together the right ingredients, to have a conversation about mental health. Whether that’s tea, biscuits and close friends or a room full of people challenging mental health stigma, we want you to get talking. Mental health problems affect one in four of us, yet people are still afraid to talk about it. Time to Talk Day encourages everyone to talk about mental health.
Having conversations about mental health helps break down stereotypes, improve relationships, aid recovery and take the stigma out of something that affects us all. There are lots of different ways to have a conversation about mental health. And you don’t have to be an expert to talk.
However you do it, make sure you have a conversation about mental health this Time to Talk Day. From a coffee morning at your work, to a stall handing out materials at your local train station, there are lots of activities you can do to get people talking on Time to Talk Day.
Andy’s Man Club is a talking group, a place for men to come together in a safe environment to talk about issues/problems they be have faced or currently are facing. The benefit is there are other men who have been in similar situations and can help you with advice on how they have dealt with the situation. Some of the aims are to provide beneficial services, we will look at bringing in solicitors who can give advice about fathers seeing their children, running debt management classes for those with gambling addictions or money troubles as well as the possibility of anger management classes and even activity sessions ranging from sports like Rugby, Football, Basketball to walks and Fitness classes.
Around 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem this year yet the shame and silence can be as bad as the mental health problem itself. Your attitude to mental health could change someone’s life.
Too often, people who experience a mental health problem are also expected to take the lead on talking about mental health in the wider sense. Time to Talk Day encourages everyone to talk about mental health.
Mental health problems affect one in four of us yet people are still afraid to talk about it. For people with mental health problems not being able to talk about it can be one of the worst parts of the illness. So by getting people talking about mental health we can break down stereotypes, improve relationships, aid recovery and take the stigma out of something that affects us all.
Since Time to Talk Day first launched in 2014, it has sparked millions of conversations in schools, homes, workplaces, in the media and online.
The Time to Change organisation aims are to:
Since Time to Change began in 2007, around 4.1 million adults in England have improved attitudes towards mental health problems – that’s an improvement of 9.6% between 2008 and 2016. And more people than ever are able to be open about their mental health problems.
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