Our Edinburgh Regional Meeting was a great success. Over 80 delegates booked places for the event held at the Grosvenor Hilton in Edinburgh and saw a presentation from the Campaign Director about current and future priorities.
Two local showcases enabled all to see some great local work – funded by NHS Lothian’s Small Grants Scheme – a presentation (DOWNLOAD PPT FILE) by Dipa Ward of Saheliya and a short play by Firefly Senior Youth Arts Theatre.
The play can be shown in a variety of settings including schools.
There then followed a discussion about tackling stigma and how the toolkit can help.
What are the main challenges in tackling stigma?
- We need to make people feel comfortable about using the language of mental health
- We need to promote that it’s okay to be different
- We need to speak to the 3 out of 4 who won’t experience mental ill-health
- We need to focus our attention on young people and their attitudes
- We need to get to the heart of stigma and discrimination in employment
- We need to influence the attitudes of health professionals and those who plan services
How can ‘see me’s campaign toolkit help?
- It can be a prompt for new ideas and local action
- It can show which ideas have worked in other places
- It can help us to promote our work through 'see me'
- It should be available to anyone who wants to use it