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Time to Change organisational pledge
What is the pledge?
Quite simply, the Time to Change pledge is a public statement of aspiration that an organisation wants to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination.
The pledge can be carried out in many ways – an employer could fulfil their pledge by changing their culture and policies so that people with mental health problems are supported at work. A university could get anti-stigma messages out to its students. A council could coordinate a local campaign.
The pledge isn’t a quality mark, accreditation or endorsement Organisations don’t have to pass a test or submit a lengthy application. What matters is that they are taking some action, that’s realistic and right for them, that they hope will lead to a reduction in discrimination either within the organisation or in the wider community.
What does pledging mean for an organisation? What do we have to do?
Every organisation is different and there are various ways that an organisation can put their pledge into action. But all organisations who want to pledge must complete an action plan setting out what they are going to do, or what they have achieved if signing the pledge as a mark of celebration. Time to Change can help advise you on the action plan but it’s the responsibility of the organisation to deliver it. Action plans should be realistic and manageable, but we’re not going to penalise organisations that don’t achieve everything, so we encourage them to aim high.
Who else has pledged?
Organisations that have pledged include BT, E.ON, the Premier League, Channel 4, the Church of England, Comic Relief, universities, NUS, local authorities and NHS Trusts. You can see a full list of organisations that have pledged and some case studies highlighting what different organisations have done on the Time to Change website.
Submitting your action plan
When you’re ready, complete the action plan form and submit it to us. When we have received your form, we will get back to you to arrange your pledge signing.
Pledging should be a public commitment to supporting Time to Change, so we would like a senior representative from your organisation to publicly sign our ‘Pledge board’ once we have
agreed your action plan with you.
To get maximum impact we advise that you arrange to sign the pledge at an event your organisation is already planning, such as a board meeting,
AGM, conference or launch event.
We will produce the pledge board to use at your signing event, and you can then display this in your organisation as a sign of your commitment to tackling stigma and discrimination around
mental health.
Let us know how you get on
It’s your organisations responsibility to deliver your action plan and monitor how it’s going. Evaluation can be useful to see what’s working well, what needs to be improved and to get support internally to do more.
We will also follow up with you three months after your pledge signing to see how it’s going. This is a chance for you to tell us what you have been able to deliver so far, what you plan for the future, inform us of any changes and let us know if you have experienced any challenges in delivering your action plan. This is to help with Time to Change’s evaluation and feedback gathered through this process will not be shared publically.
If you have any other questions about the organisational pledge please contact Libby Peppiatt, Organisational Engagement Manager, Time to Change, Rethink Mental Illness.
libby.peppiatt@rethink.org
t: 020 7840 3107
m: 07813 068 152 www.time-to-change.org.uk Vanessa Crossey Maj Matron MRS Bovington
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