An Update from 'see me' - November 2010
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Welcome!
… ‘see me’s latest update. This is sent to everyone on our contact database or who has signed up to our Wall of Support (see below). It’s been a busy time here at the ‘see me’ offices as well as around the country so we have lots of news for you all. Please forward this newsletter on to anyone you know or any networks you’re involved in – thanks!
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'see me' Photo Competition - now it's down to you!
Our Photography Competition has now reached its exciting climax! Congratulations to our 52 local winners from around Scotland who now go forward to the National Final. Now YOU get to decide the People’s Choice winner.
Visit our website and choose your favourite photograph by our national finalists. No need to pick just one; you can rate each photo and it’s easy to do! Voting closes on 3rd December and the winners will be announced by the 6th. So click in and check out the fantastic range of photos all promoting the theme of Support. A big thank you to all the hundreds of people who took the time to enter.
Many thanks too, to our local hosts who once again have done a fantastic job of organising local competitions and exhibitions across Scotland. There were a total of 24 exhibitions in public places such as libraries, shopping centres and galleries all helping us to promoting our anti stigma message to the general public.
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'see me' Creative Writing Competition 2010 - last few weeks to enter!
Continuing our theme of Support this year we have launched a brand new writers’ competition. The competition is still open for entries in short story, poetry and tweeting. Entries close on 10th December so you still have a few weeks left to send us your entries.
You could be our first creative writing winner and win a handy £250 worth of Amazon vouchers. So whether you are a writer, poet or tweeter it has to be worth a go!
Enter online , it couldn’t be easier, but if you do have a problem you can always contact us via
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and we will help you. Never used Twitter before? - don’t worry! Just sign up at twitter.com. It is easy and your first tweet to our competition could win you £250 worth of Amazon Vouchers!
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Wall of Support enters the second millennia!
We now have passed the 1,000 supporters mark on our Wall of Support. At the time of writing, 1051 people had pledged their personal support to our work in ending mental health stigma and discrimination.
You can help us to reach the 2,000 mark by Christmas! Just log on to our website, have a photo of yourself ready, follow the clear instructions to upload it to the site with your personal message to ‘see me’ and everyone else who shares your passion to tackle stigma in Scotland.
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‘see me’ enjoys GOLD
At the CIPR Scotland (Pride) awards, held in Edinburgh at the beginning of this month, Stripe PR won a GOLD award in the not-for-profit category for their work for ‘see me’ to put the issues of mental health stigma back on the agenda. This was fantastic recognition, by other PR professionals, of the work that Stripe and ‘see me’ have been doing of late. Roll on 2011!
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‘see me’, I’m… social networking
Our Facebook page is receiving an increasing number of supporters, but there’s always room for more! If you want to be the first to hear about campaign news and developments, join us on Facebook and click ‘Like’
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Follow us on Twitter…
While we can’t claim the biggest number in the world of followers on Twitter, this is steadily increasing as well. So why not follow @seemescotland as well, and hear regularly what we are up to. And rest assured – we won’t be tweeting once every hour!
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Making Drama Out Of A Crisis
‘see me’ has welcomed the above  report by Shift, which highlights the way in which TV Drama portrays mental illness. The report found that:• 45% of peak-time programmes with mental illness storylines portrayed people with mental health problems as posing a threat to others. • 63% of references to mental health were pejorative, flippant or unsympathetic. • 45% of programmes had sympathetic portrayals, but these often portrayed the characters as tragic victims.Commenting on the report, Suzie Vestri said: “How mental illness is portrayed on our TVs - even in fictional storylines - really does have an impact on public attitudes and thus the way that Scottish society treats people affected by mental illness day to day. They always say that all good drama is about conflict but this should not mean that every character experiencing mental illness should be shown as violent. That's a quick and easy stereotype which bears no resemblance to most experience. Perhaps a storyline relating to mental illness which shows someone being ill but recovering with the support of their family, friends, colleagues and employers would be a lot closer to the truth?”You can read the report in full here.What do you think? What not visit our Facebook page and share your views?
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Speak Out about Stigma!
Our volunteer speakers provide talks in a range of settings-including schools, community groups and businesses- about their own experiences of mental ill-health, with two specific focuses: the stigma and discrimination that people with mental ill-health face, and how positive support and recovery has helped them. Our speakers will also give a brief introduction to ‘see me’.
All our speakers are given public speaking training and have the opportunity to practise this skill with a wide range of audiences. By being involved with the Speakers’ Bureau you’ll attend a variety of events and meet lots of new people. You’ll also have the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping to change people’s attitudes and behaviour towards people with mental ill-health.
We are looking for new Volunteer Speakers across the country, and also new audiences. If you would be interested in Speaking Out, if you’re looking for a speaker or if you know of a similar project running in your area please contact Becky Duff on 0131 554 0218 or email
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Harrington Review of Work Capability Assessments
The first of five reviews into the Work Capability Assessment process has been published this week (23rd November). The whole principle of these assessments has been a cause for concern by many people who have mental health problems and illness which prevent them from working. In addition, the assessment process and the questions and tests included do not seem to have taken mental health problems adequately into account.
In the report, Professor Malcolm Harrington says:
“I believe there is a lot that could be done at each stage of the process to make the WCA fairer and more effective. In broad terms, the pathway for the claimant […] is impersonal, mechanistic and lacking in clarity.
“Some conditions are more difficult to assess than others. This appears to be the case with more subjective conditions such as mental health or other fluctuating conditions. As a result, some of the descriptors used in the assessment may not adequately measure or reflect the full impact of such conditions on the individual’s capability for workanding of these disabilities;
In addition, some conditions are […] evidently more difficult to assess. As a result some of the descriptors may not adequately reflect the full impact of such conditions on the individual’s capability for work.”
A further review of the descriptors is planned.
Read the report in full here.
What are your thoughts on this? Visit ‘see me’s facebook page and join the debate
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Diverse Connections
‘see me’ has been working in partnership with GAMH, NHS Health Scotland and VOX to produce a DVD which will enable us all to hear from minority ethnic people with lived experience of mental health problems. The aim of the DVD is to raise awareness of some of the barriers that can affect BME people with mental illness and we hope that the DVD will be a valuable resource for a wide range of groups. The DVD is jointly funded by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and ‘see me’, and it will be available in January 2011
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Final (for now) ‘see me’ Grants Awarded
As in previous rounds we have been amazed by the quality and diversity of the applications we received and humbled by the amount of great work being done locally to eliminate the stigma attached to mental ill health.
In the third and final round of the Local Grants Scheme for 2010 ‘see me’ has awarded a total of £29,510 to seven local groups and organisations in Fife, Forth Valley, Borders, Lothian and Western Isles.
Below is a quick summary of the work that will be undertaken by our successful grant applicants:
£5,000 was awarded to Universal Comedy to showcase an event in 2011. Universal Comedy will work with service users across the Lothians offering taster workshops and longer developmental courses to anyone with a lived experience of mental ill health
£4,700 was awarded to Western Isles Association for Mental Health for their One in Four project which is to produce a DVD and book piece including views of what people’s understanding of what recovery, stigma and discrimination is for people with mental health problems.
£4,380 was awarded to Fife Employment Access Trust for Community Wellbeing – promoting a mentally healthy neighbourhood. To deliver nine Community Wellbeing training/awareness courses across Fife promoting a mentally healthy neighbourhood.
£1,200 was awarded to Dunfermline Athletic Football Club Community Team to work with a Mental Health Group to increase awareness of discrimination and stigma through access to football, sport and activities
£4,390 was awarded to Clacksun to raise mental health awareness and promote positive images of mental health through telling stories in music and words and working with the media. The project will also involve training to challenge reporting styles and content and develop closer working relationships with local reporters.
£4,840 was awarded to New Horizons Borders to run a series of creativity groups across the Borders using arts, crafts, music, movement, creative writing and drama. By providing self-help along with access to the arts will help to promote better mental well being for members and help aid recovery.
£5,000 was awarded to LGBT Centre for Health and Wellbeing for supporting change: an education film for trans people and their communities
The creation of the film will be led by a group of transgender people who will share their experience of their mental health.
For more information regarding the third round of the ‘see me’ Local Grants Scheme and more information on the awarded grants please visit our website and don’t forget to vote for your favourite photo while you’re there!
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St Johnstone teams up with ‘see me’
St Johnstone FC became the latest Premiership club to sign the ‘see me’ Pledge, at their match against Kilmarnock FC (another Pledge signatory) on November 6th. Both teams wore new ‘see me’ T-shirts during warm up and the Pledge signing took place on the pitch at half-time.
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A Christmas Single With A Difference!
Dean Owens, a popular musician from Leith (just around the corner from ‘see me’!) is due to release his new single on December 6th. ‘see me’ doesn’t normally advertise bands and musicians but this single – ‘Snowglobe’ - is different as all profits from sales will be donated to the mental health charity Mind
Dean says: “Mind do a fantastic job helping people with mental illness. Snowglobe is about feeling trapped by the pressures of the festive season which can be a truly awful time for those suffering from depression, financial problems, loneliness and loss”
Snowglobe will be available as a download only through I-tunes, Amazon, Spotify and all the usual online outlets. To find out more visit http://deanowens.com.
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That’s all the news for now. We’ll have more news out to you all before Christmas.
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Thank you for your continued support for the campaign.
- Suzie Vestri, Campaign Director
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