Bristol City Council Signs Time to Change Employer Pledge
February 7, 2019 at 1:37 pm
BIMHN is a partner of the Bristol Time to Change hub, a group of organisations who have come together to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination in the city of Bristol.
One of the initiatives that the Hub works on is furthering the reach of the Time to Change Employer Pledge. This is a scheme where employers and businesses sign up and demonstrate their commitment to change how we think and act about mental health in the workplace, and make sure that employees who are facing these problems feel supported by those around them.
The pledge has already been signed by more than 900 employers in England, including those from the FTSE 100, leading retailers, and Government departments.
Yesterday, the day before Time to Talk Day 2019, we are delighted to announce that Bristol City Council has signed the pledge.
This picture shows Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees holding the newly signed Employer Pledge, along with Tom and Liz from the Time to Change Bristol hub, and others (including Keith and Aden from Time to Change UK).
February 7, 2019 at 1:37 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 24th August. Applications will be assessed by 7th September and successful applicants will be notified by 14th 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
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
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