Please come and help me save lives
Suzanne’s plea over new mental health programme
A volunteer with a pioneering mental health programme is leading the charge for more people to help out in Renfrewshire.
See Me, the national programme to end mental health stigma, is looking for community champions in Renfrewshire to lead work which can stop the unfair discrimination people are still experiencing if they have a mental health problem.
Erskine woman Suzanne Baines is a See Me champion.
She recently took a trip around Scotland with fellow champion Karen Lally talking to people about mental health for Time to Talk day.
The trip culminated in a chat with the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at her office in Holyrood.
Suzanne said being a See Me Champion has had a big impact on her life.
“I wanted to become a Community Champion because I have experienced first-hand the devastating impact that stigma and discrimination can have on a person and their family, emotionally, psychologically, physically and financially,” she said.
“It has changed and possibly saved my life. It has helped to strengthen my sense of purpose, direction, acceptance and future opportunities.
“It is important to tackle stigma and discrimination because it is unlawful, unethical and unjust. It ruins lives and sadly takes lives and that can never be okay.”
The latest figures from a YouGov poll of more than 1,000 adults in Scotland commissioned by See Me, showed that 35 per cent of people in Scotland have either experienced stigma and discrimination because of their mental health, or they know someone close to them who has.
See Me bosses say community champions across Scotland are making positive changes to how people think and behave.
Some champions have focused on specific areas where they know stigma is having a devastating impact on people’s lives, such as working to reduce male suicide, or supporting people with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Other champions are working in their local communities by holding walks, working with local libraries and community groups or using the arts to make a difference.
Toni Groundwater, See Me’s social movement manager, said: “We need to end the unfair discrimination around mental health so people feel confident enough to speak about how they are feeling and can ask for help if they need it.
“To be able to do this, we need people who are passionate about seeing change, leading in the areas they understand and know best.
“Whatever motivates you, we can help and support you to use that, to take action against mental health stigma, which can change lives.”
See Me is looking for people who have personal experience of mental health conditions to create new projects and help to grow a movement of people across the country who are passionate about ending stigma.
Champions receive three oneand-a-half day training sessions in Glasgow, held over two months, starting from April 30. The deadline for applications is Friday, March 23.
To find out more or apply, go to www.seemescotland.org