FUTURE TALENTED Spring Term 2019 - Issue 2 | Page 59

WELLBEING
1
Encourage your
school to take part
in Time to Talk Day
Running on 7 February this year (but
replicable in schools at other times)
Time to Talk Day 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, get talking!
Having conversations about mental
health helps break down stereotypes,
improves relationships, aids recovery
and takes the stigma out of something
that affects us all. There are lots of ways
to have a conversation about mental
health, and you don’t have to be an
expert to talk.
Download the Schools Conversation
Pack plus editable posters and other
resources to get started.
bit.ly/TimeToTalkDay2019
2
3
5
TALK THE TALK
Time to Change Champions are people
with lived experience of mental health problems
who use their insights to change the way people
think and act about mental health. Being a
champion is a flexible and voluntary commitment
and you are only asked to do what you have time
to do and what you feel comfortable doing.
For example, this might involve having
conversations about mental health with people
around you, running a local Time to Change
activity, or speaking up when people say
damaging or stereotypical things about mental
health. Training and resources are provided via
a dedicated portal, helping you to build
transferable skills such as public speaking and
effective use of social media. You’ll also meet
like-minded people in your community.
bit.ly/YoungChampion
Having taken part in a
previous Time to Talk Day:
95 %
of participating schools felt pupils
would be more likely to talk about
mental health
92 %
95 %
felt staff would be more likely to
talk about mental health
said their school would be likely
to organise more activities around
mental health
Create a wall in your school to help
change attitudes to mental health
Seek permission to create an information wall in a public
space that shows everyone in your school that mental health
shouldn’t be a taboo subject and that it’s a topic that
everyone should be talking about. Time to Change provides
materials to print and stick up, including pledge sheets and
posters to help get you started.
bit.ly/MentalHealthWall
Get a teacher
involved in
Time to Change
Ask a staff member to run an
assembly or lesson about mental
health: lesson plans and assemblies
are available from Time to Change’s
website. You can reach classmates
this way and it might also get your
teacher to think differently about
the topic and to be more supportive
to any of their own friends or family
who are going through a
hard time.
bit.ly/InvolveYourTeacher
4
Write a blog
about attitudes to
mental health
Become a Time to
Change Champion
Sharing your own story of mental health problems
can help others think and talk about mental health.
If you don’t want to set up your own blog, you can
submit it directly to Time to Change to publish on
its site. Remember to consider your audience, keep
your blog simple and concise and think about your
personal boundaries: ensure you’re comfortable
with people reading your account before you
commit to publishing it.
bit.ly/BlogYourStory
6
Set up a young
leaders group in
your school
to run Time to Change
activities, events
and campaigns
The most successful campaigns in schools
are led by young people, with buy-in from
senior staff. Once you’ve gained
permission from a teacher to launch your
group, start with a shout-out in an assembly
and ask other students to join.
Time to Change’s Leadership and
Campaigning Guide for Young People
provides a practical guide to developing
leadership skills and delivering campaigns.
The skills you learn along the way will be
highly transferable and sought after
by further education organisations
and employers.
bit.ly/TTCYoungLeader
ABOUT TIME TO CHANGE
Led by mental health charities Mind and
Rethink Mental Illness, Time to Change is a
growing movement of people changing how we
think and act about mental health problems.
time-to-change.org.uk
FUTURE TALENT // 59