Time to Talk Day 2019!

February 1, 2019 at 1:13 pm

About Time to Talk Day

Time To Talk Day is an annual national event, that aims to promote talking about mental health. 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; talking about mental health problems and sharing real life stories helps to change the way we all think and act about mental health problems.

This year, it takes place on Thursday 7th February, and the theme is bringing together the right ingredients to have that important conversation about mental health. Whether that’s tea, biscuits and close friends; or a room full of people challenging mental health stigma; we want people to get talking.

If you’re posting to social media, we’ll be using two hashtags; #TimeToTalk and #TTCBristol.

In Bristol, there are lots of events going on both before and on the day itself – take a look below!

North Bristol

Community Access Support Service (CASS) Bristol / Tea and Talk with tea, cake, activities and space to talk / 09:30 – 12:00 Thursday 7th February / The Greenway Cafe, Doncaster Road, Bristol, BS10 5PY
Community Access Support Service (CASS) Bristol / Gentle Walking Group / Starting at 10:00, Wednesday 6th February / The Greenway Centre, Doncaster Road, Bristol / CASS’ new ‘Talk and Walk’ app (see below) will be used on a route walking through Badock’s Wood with quiz questions on the topic of mental health.

Central Bristol

Time to Talk Stall at Bristol City Council’s ‘Cash Hall’ / 11:00 – 14:30 Thursday 7th February / City Hall, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TR
Introduction to Challenging Stigma and Discrimination training session / 09:30 – 12:45 Tuesday 5th February / The Station (First Floor Classroom), Silver Street, Bristol, BS1 2AG
Time to Change Champion’s Fund Information Session / 13:30 – 14:45 Tuesday 5th February / The Station (First Floor Classroom), Silver Street, Bristol, BS1 2AG
Integrated Community Localities Transformation Event: as part of the event, attendees such as GPs, health commissioners, people from local authorities and other partners will be encouraged to share what they will be doing to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination.
St. Mungo’s are running a drop-in on Time to Talk Day between 10:00 – 12:00 with an open invitation to anyone to come in and talk about mental health / Location: 1 New Street, Bristol, BS2 9DX

East Bristol

Time to Talk Day at Changes Bristol / 15:00 – 17:00 Thursday 7th February / Terrace Room, Barton Hill Settlement, Lawrence Hill, BS5 0AX
Time to Talk to CASS / 10:30 – 12:30 Thursday 7th February / Wellspring Health Living Centre, Beam Street, Bristol, BS5 9QY

UWE Bristol

Every February, UWE runs a Feel Good February initiative focusing on health and wellbeing. This year, there are two events taking place on Thursday 7th February;

The Bristol Time to Change hub will have a stall at UWE’s Frenchay Campus, as part of Frenchay’s mental health and wellbeing fair.
The Children and Young People’s team from Time to Change will be at UWE’s Glenside Campus for Glenside’s mental health and wellbeing fair.

Talk and Walk

Finally, CASS will be launching a ‘Talk and Walk’ app in time for Time to Talk Day, promoting gentle exercise with some fun and exciting challenges included. You can download the app from Monday 4th February, and challenges run until Sunday 17th February. For more information, take a look at the flyer.

Wellbeans Initiative

Wellbeans Initiative CIC are a social peer network. To mark Time to Talk Day this year, they will be visiting retailers. Through social contact, they will look at ways of opening the conversation, and how we respond to challenging attitudes and behaviour towards mental health in the workplace. Wellbeans’ aim is to really try and open up conversation between staff, how they may respond to challenges, and also safeguard themselves.

Getting more involved with Time to Change

Would you like to get more involved with anti-stigma mental health work, or start your own event? Find out about how to support the Time to Change social movement and sign up to become a Time to Change Champion.

The Time to Change Bristol hub, is a partnership of local organisations, who collectively work together to further the mental health conversation. To sign up to the Hub’s mailing list, to hear about new opportunities and events, click here.

The Champions Fund is available to any Time to Change Champion to use to run an event in line with Time to Talk’s aims; you can apply for up to £500 to run a social contact event. Take a look at the linked pages for more information, and for help applying.

February 1, 2019 at 1:13 pm | News | No comment

Bristol mental health support – Christmas opening times 2018

December 19, 2018 at 12:13 pm

Please note: this item was published ahead of the Christmas 2018 period. The information contained in the below mentioned guide is therefore out of date.

The Independent Mental Health Network (IMHN) have produced a short guide to mental health support available to people in the Bristol area over the Christmas and New Year period.

This follows on from the success of last year’s guide in helping communities navigate what is available at this time of this year and requests from many people and organisations across Bristol.

About the guide

The guide, produced in partnership with Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group and Bristol Mental Health, lists relevant mental health and wellbeing support available over the holiday period. It brings together information about mental health support from both NHS and voluntary & community sector partners that can be accessed. This also includes some national helplines.

Click on the image to find our more information about mental health support available in Bristol over the Christmas period.

IMHN Project Manager, Tom Renhard said:

“Whilst for many the Christmas period can be a time of joy, celebration and relaxation, it is vital we remember that this can also be an especially difficult time of year for some.

In particular, this could be the case for people who may feel increasingly isolated during this time or who may be struggling with their mental health and well being for a variety of reasons.

The aim of this guide is to assist in helping people to access the right support at the right time, should they need to. We have also shared the guide with GP’s, existing services and local groups to help it to reach as many people as possible.

I would encourage everyone to make use of this guide in a way they feel is helpful and share with work colleagues, family and friends.”

If you have anything you would like to add about what you know is available over the Christmas period then please comment at the bottom of this web page so the information can be shared with others.

You can find a copy of the guide here.

December 19, 2018 at 12:13 pm | News | No comment

Raising Feedback about Mental Health in Bristol

November 14, 2018 at 7:52 pm

One of BIMHN’s main roles is to represent the voice of those with lived experience of mental health within Bristol.

How Do We Do This?

BIMHN supports both its members and a number of lived experience representatives, who sit on a variety of meetings within the local civic and healthcare authorities, and associated agencies.

An example of such sessions are mental health service monitoring meetings that are run by Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (BNSSG CCG). BNSSG CCG hold these meetings as they are the body ultimately responsible for introducing and designing local healthcare services, overseeing the implementation of the service providers, and reviewing such services during their operations. These monitoring meetings scrutinise the service on an ongoing basis.

Feedback

Such meetings also provide an opportunity for feedback to be raised. Often other agencies, authorities and stakeholders are present at the meetings we sit on, like Bristol City Council, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP), Public Health England, and more. This gives us an opportunity to raise concerns and comments at a high level.

So, if you have feedback or comments on anything to do with your experience of mental health treatment or care within Bristol, please get in touch with us. We will arrange for it to be raised, and do our best to update you along the way.

Other Ways of Giving Feedback

BNSSG CCG’s Customer Services Team welcome feedback from service users on every aspect of care on an ongoing basis. For more information, including advocacy services available, take a look at their flyer.

November 14, 2018 at 7:52 pm | News | No comment

Time to Change Bristol’s Employer Pledge event

October 12, 2018 at 1:06 pm

In September, more than 50 people from Bristol local businesses and organisations attended the Time to Change Employer Pledge event at Bristol City Hall.

The event took the form of a workshop, intended to enable employers to learn how to create a workplace culture that encourages the opening up of conversations around mental health. The Action Plan behind the Time to Change Employer Pledge provides a framework and tools for employers to provide the appropriate support for all employees, and enable employers to embed mental health into their policies and procedures, so that employees feel engaged and are able to speak openly about their mental health with their employer.

Take a look at a summary poster produced following the event, including attendee feedback and comments.

Breaking down stigma in the workplace, and giving both employees and employers the tools to tackle mental ill-health, is a priority of the national Time to Change campaign. The Bristol Time to Change hub, co-delivered by BIMHN, supports this.

October 12, 2018 at 1:06 pm | News | No comment

Funding to help challenge mental health stigma in Bristol

July 2, 2018 at 9:21 am

Today (2 July 2018) Time to Change Bristol is launching its Champions Fund – a £10,000 pot of money to help residents with personal experience challenge mental health stigma where they live.

Each applicant must be a registered Time to Change Champion and can apply for up to £500. The funding will be used to spark conversations between people who have experienced mental health problems and those who have not. Talking about mental health problems and sharing real life stories helps to change the way we all think and act about mental health problems.

Activities can range from stalls in shopping centres or festivals to free haircuts by bantering barbers and even ‘walk and talk’ dog walks.

A spokesperson for the Time to Change Bristol Hub said: “This is a great opportunity for residents who have experienced mental health problems to share their story and encourage people to talk more openly about mental health.

“When we talk to each other and establish common ground, prejudices and assumptions are often challenged and replaced with mutual understanding and respect. This can lead to changes in attitudes and behaviours and our campaign is proving that it is an incredibly effective way to reduce stigma and discrimination.”

Cllr Asher Craig, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equality and Public Health said: “I’m looking forward to seeing how our local champions would like to spend this money and their ideas to get more people opening up about their mental health. Since becoming a Time to Change hub we’ve offered training for people to become champions and this new funding pot will help to really bring the campaign alive. Only by working together will we bring about change that lasts, break down stigma and put our mental health at the top of the priority list.”

The funding is made available through Time to Change, a social movement run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness to change the way we all think and act about mental health problems. Time to Change Bristol was successful in its bid to become a Time to Change hub in March 2018. Time to Change Bristol is made up of the city council, Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN), Rethink Bristol and Wellbeans Initiative CIC and with support from partners across the city – including employers, unions, universities, police and the NHS.

Time to Change hubs are local partnerships which demonstrate their commitment to:

Putting people with personal experience of mental health problems at the heart of their work
Embedding anti-stigma and discrimination work locally, whether that be local schools, workplaces or other community settings
Proactively campaigning to improve people’s attitudes and behaviours towards mental health.

To apply for funding applicants need to be registered Time to Change champions, be at least 18 years old, have lived experience of a mental health problem and live in Bristol.

The deadline to apply for the first round of funding is 24^th August. Applications will be assessed by 7^th September and successful applicants will be notified by 14^th September.

To register as a Time to Change champion visit www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved

To apply for the Champions Fund visit www.bimhn.org.uk/ttcbristol/

July 2, 2018 at 9:21 am | News | No comment

Mental health support in emergency departments – we want to hear from you!

May 17, 2018 at 10:59 pm

We want to hear your views about your experiences of accessing mental health support at an emergency department.

In collaboration with UWE Bristol, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, and Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (BNSSG CCG), we are gathering views to understand the journey that people with mental health problems experience when attending an emergency department.

This work precedes a change in service delivery planned for the local emergency departments that aims to support people needing urgent mental health treatment in the service.

We really want to hear from people who have recently attended an emergency department in Bristol (within the last 12 months), South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.

All responses will be treated with the highest confidentiality, with no personal details shared or used; only summary data will be used in the report. It will not be possible to identify any individual.

We are currently doing this in two ways: by asking you to fill out a short questionnaire or by arranging an interview with the research team at UWE Bristol.

Emergency Departments Questionnaire

The questionnaire should take no more than ten to fifteen minutes to complete and you can fill out the questionnaire by clicking here.

Interview with the research team

Would you like to take part in an interview with the research team to share your story and help improve available support for people in the future? We are aiming to interview up to six people and slots will be allocated on a first come first served basis. A voucher to the value of £15 will be provided for your time and the interview should last no more than one hour and 15 minutes.

We have slots available on the following dates (venues will be in central Bristol unless otherwise agreed):

Tuesday 5^th June – Between 9 am and 12 pm
Friday 8^th June – Between 9 am and 4 pm
Wednesday 13^th June – Between 9 am and 4 pm
Friday 15^th June – Between 1 pm and 5 pm
Friday 22^nd June – Between 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm
Thursday 28^th June – Between 9 am and 4 pm

You can book by emailing and we will put you in touch with the research team at UWE.

Want to take part in an interview and none of the listed slots are convenient? Drop us an email and we will try and make alternative arrangements.

May 17, 2018 at 10:59 pm | News | No comment

Free training to provide support as a Time to Change Champion

May 11, 2018 at 1:26 pm

Free training sessions are on offer with Time to Change Bristol to help people to join a growing movement of people changing how we all think and act about mental health problems.

The training is available over the next month to enable people to become Champions for the Bristol Time to Change hub, which is a network of local organisations and individuals committed to ending negative attitudes and behaviours towards people experiencing mental health problems.

Too many people with mental health problems are made to feel isolated, ashamed and worthless. But with the right support from those around them, people can recover and experience equality of opportunity in all areas of life. Encouraging people to open up to mental health – to talk and to listen – is the first step.

Time to Change Champions are people with lived experience of mental health problems and are vital campaigners for the movement as they have links to communities, come from a diverse range of backgrounds with various levels of previous experiences and skills.

Cllr Asher Craig, Cabinet Member for Public Health, said: “One of our key ambitions is for Bristol to become a city where everyone feels safe speaking out about mental health issues and where we can secure the support we need when we need it.

“Time to Change Champions are an essential part of the work to bring our city together to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination as they have first-hand experience in dealing with mental health problems.

“Their understanding and local focus will be instrumental in our upcoming Thrive Bristol programme, which we are leading with Bristol’s Anti Stigma Alliance with the help of our local universities, employers and unions alongside our partners in the voluntary sector, NHS and police.

“By working together as a city and using the expertise and support offered by the national Time to Change campaign we be believe we can make great progress towards Bristol becoming a city free from stigma and discrimination around mental health.”

Kata Papunen, a Time to Change Champion, said: “I became a Time to Change Champion in 2014, after an amazing summer of volunteering at Time to Change events in Bristol. I am passionate about mental health campaigning, reducing stigma and empowering others as well as myself, and I find that Time to Change provides the perfect network, support and cause to combine what I care for and what I can do and learn.

“By becoming a champion I have had a unique chance to further develop my skills in event management with the support of the champions forum, training opportunities and online material.

“Best of all, the Champions Fund allows us champions to bid for funding to help turn our ideas into reality. Having the funds to organise any kind of event or activity is a big hurdle, but thanks to the Champions Fund I don’t have to worry about that. Whether I want to organise a small coffee social or take part in a public campaigning day, the Champions Fund is there to help.

“I am grateful for the amazing support the Time to Change community continues to give, and I am looking forward to doing more good this summer with a very inspiring network.”

If you are interested in joining the social movement to change how we think and act about mental health problems and becoming a Time to Change Champion, sign up for one of the training sessions in Bristol:

17 May 9.30am – 1.30pm: Social Contact – https://ttcbristol-social-contact-training.eventbrite.co.uk
• 24 May 9.30am – 1.30pm: Workshop for Champions in Hubs – How to influence and participate – https://ttcbristol-influence-and-participation-training.eventbrite.co.uk

Time to Change Bristol is made up of Bristol City Council, Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN), Wellbeans Initiative CIC and Rethink Bristol with support from partners across the city – including employers, unions, universities, police and the NHS.

Time to Change the national campaign is run by charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness.

For more information visit www.bimhn.org.uk/ttcbristol or www.time-to-change.org.uk.

May 11, 2018 at 1:26 pm | News | No comment

Presentations from Mental Health Conversations event now available!

May 6, 2018 at 2:11 pm

The presentations from our second Mental Health Conversations event are now available to download and share.

You can access the presentations here.

More updates will be available soon to let you know how the key themes raised at the event will be taken forwards.

If you have any queries in the meantime, or would like to get more involved in this work, then drop an email to

More information from the event

As Bristol prepares for the roll out of Universal Credit in 2018, Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN) and Community Access Support Service (CASS), Bristol City Council Public Health and the Clinical Commissioning Group invite workers, group leaders and service users to join the city’s second mental health conversation, this time about debt and benefits.

The finalised programme for the next sold-out event, taking place on Tuesday 8th May, can be found here and also below:

Representation & Accountability Officer, Tom Renhard, said:

“We are looking forward to welcoming over 120 people to the event on Tuesday. Many are attending to share their lived experiences of their personal situation and what could have been done differently to better support them. These will include people talking about challenges of mental health combined with debt or benefits issues they have had where their voices may have previously gone unheard. Professionals and key local decision makers will also attend so that collectively, we can work together to see what can be done to improve the situation, or what needs to be our ask as a city to ensure the experiences of people are heard, acknowledged and appropriately addressed.”

About the event

In this period of growing austerity, mental health and finance often impact each other; issues with either one can cause people to spiral into crisis.

With service users already affected by welfare reform and Universal Credit on the horizon, how do advice and mental health workers join together and ensure clients have a safety net in place?

Join us to:

Make connections between the mental health and advice sectors
Identify issues relevant to both mental health work and advice work
Work together to identify solutions

Rather than being a Universal Credit update or a chance for individuals to discuss their benefit entitlement, this event will provide a rare opportunity for interested parties to come together with a view to improving the services provided to Bristol’s communities.

The event will include information stalls, networking opportunities, discussion groups and speakers, with outcomes feeding into the Thrive Bristol program.

Speakers will present a national perspective on welfare reform and mental health, a local Bristol-focused view, an advice sector view and most importantly a lived experience of mental health perspective.

If you have any queries about the event then please do get in touch by emailing

May 6, 2018 at 2:11 pm | News | No comment

Mental Health Conversations – Welfare, Benefits and Debt

April 2, 2018 at 5:35 pm

In this period of growing austerity, mental health and finance often impact each other; issues with either one can cause people to spiral into crisis.

With service users already affected by welfare reform and Universal Credit on the horizon, how do advice and mental health workers join together and ensure clients have a safety net in place?

Join us to:

Make connections between the mental health and advice sectors
Identify issues relevant to both mental health work and advice work
Work together to identify solutions

Book your free ticket to attend

The event will include information stalls, networking opportunities, discussion groups and speakers, with outcomes feeding into the Thrive Bristol program.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided and timings for the day can be found below:

10:00 – 10:30 Registration, Networking & Stalls
10:30 – 1:00 Speakers, Plenary & Workshop
1:00 – 1:45 Lunch & Stalls
1:45 – 3:30 Workshop & Closing Plenary
3:30 – 4:00 Stalls & Networking

You can book your ticket to attend here and we look forward to seeing you on May 8th.

April 2, 2018 at 5:35 pm | News | No comment

Bristol wins bid to become a Time to Change hub to change how we think and act about mental health

February 28, 2018 at 12:00 pm

This week Bristol has been named a Time to Change hub, set up to change how we all think and act about mental health locally.

Time to Change hubs are networks of local organisations and individuals committed to ending negative attitudes and behaviours towards people experiencing mental health problems in their communities.

Too many people with mental health problems are made to feel isolated, ashamed and worthless. But with the right support from those around them, people can recover and have equal opportunities in all areas of life. Encouraging people to open up to mental health – to talk and to listen – is the first step.

Time to Change hubs have been created to combine the insights from the national campaign with local knowledge to support communities, workplaces and schools to take action to improve the way everyone thinks and acts about mental health problems in their area.

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 four further hubs (Waltham Forest, Nottingham, Bristol, and Worcestershire) 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.

In order to be named a Time to Change hub, local partnerships had to demonstrate their commitment to:

Embedding anti-stigma and discrimination work in their own organisations
Campaigning for change in their communities
Putting people with personal experience of mental health problems at the heart of their work.

Time to Change Bristol is made up of the city council, Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN), Wellbeans Initiative CIC and Rethink Bristol with support from partners across the city – including employers, unions, universities, police and the NHS.

Time to Change champions at Cabot Circus, Bristol

Cllr Asher Craig, Cabinet Member for Public Health said:

“One of our key ambitions is for Bristol to become a city where everyone feels safe speaking out about mental health issues and where we can secure the support we need when we need it. Becoming a Time to Change hub will be instrumental in the work to bring our city together to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination as part of our new ‘Thrive Bristol’ programme. We are leading this with Bristol’s Anti Stigma Alliance with the help of our local universities, employers and unions alongside our partners in the voluntary sector, NHS and police. By working together as a city and using the expertise and support offered by the national Time to Change campaign we be believe we can make great progress towards Bristol becoming a city free from stigma and discrimination around mental health.”

Tom Renhard, Representation & Accountability Officer for BIMHN, said:

“Here at BIMHN we are thrilled that Bristol will be hosting a Time to Change hub. It is a testament to the work of local individuals and organisations that have been at the forefront of challenging mental health stigma and discrimination for many years. As a member-led organisation for those with lived experience of mental health, we are pleased to be leading the coordination of the hub, alongside Bristol City Council and local partners, ensuring that those with personal experience of mental health problems are truly at the heart of everything the hub does.”

Liz Andrews, Open Dialogue Therapist for Wellbeans Initiative CIC, said:

“We were privileged to be involved with the Time to Change Pilot Hub, 2015 / 16 and what an amazing, incredible year it was! To work with, and, witness such change in self-esteem and confidence with so many passionate and dedicated champions was all inspiring! We are thrilled yet again, to work with Time to Change during the coming year, enabling us to embed the work of Time to Change throughout the city and wider communities, creating sustainability and continuing its legacy in the years to come.”

Debi Hadley, Service Manager for Bristol Community Support Services, said:

“Our Bristol Community Support Services (Rethink Mental Illness) feel passionate about being part of the TTC Bristol Hub, and look forward to working with our partners to enable more people with lived experience to fulfil their ambitions of challenging discrimination and promoting mental health across the City.”

Since their initial launch, Time to Change regional hubs have successfully campaigned to end mental health stigma and discrimination. Their work has ranged from closing down a stigmatising game ‘experience’ where participants are challenged to escape from a scary ‘asylum’ to supporting Time to Talk Day (1 February 2018) and running events to delivering PR campaigns aimed at improving understanding and respect for people living with a mental health problem.

Jo Loughran, Operations Director at Time to Change, said:

“We’re really pleased to be working with organisations and individuals in Bristol to create a sustainable campaign for change, tailored to the needs and priorities of the local community.

“In the past our work locally has been driven by the passion and commitment of individual champions. By having hubs in place we’re making sure the wider community is more involved and that there is strong local leadership and expertise in place to provide support.”

February 28, 2018 at 12:00 pm | News | No comment

« Previous Page — Next Page »