An Update from 'see me' December 2011/ January 2012

Welcome! Hello and welcome to ‘see me’s winter newsletter. We hope you all had a good Scottish Mental Health Week and that everyone is still wearing their badge!

Scottish Mental Health Week 2011 The last three months have been an incredibly busy time for the ‘see me’ team preparing, planning and implementing our activities for Scottish Mental Health Week. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part.

Flash Choir: We launched our week of activities for Scottish Mental Health Week 2011 on World Mental Health Day, 10th October. For one day only we took to the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh with our very own ‘see me’ Flash Choir. Singers from community choirs joined together to sing, Lean on Me and Bambelela, a South African song that translates as ‘never give up’. The event was filmed by STV and appeared on the evening news and we also made our own video version of the day which is on our YouTube page. Special thanks to our media volunteers Caroline Morrison and Bob Bogle who supported us and were interviewed on the day.

'see me' for tea: We provided ‘see me’ tea bags, napkins and recipe cards and encouraged all our Pledge signatories to take time out of their busy days to chat positively about mental health. From the feedback we have received so far, these sessions have been a great success – thank you to all those who took part. To see pictures of some ‘see me’ for tea breaks please click here.
Stall in a Box: The response to this idea was overwhelming; we ‘sold out’ of the 250 Stall in a Boxes – including our ‘Stick it to Stigma’ activity - within a week of our last newsletter. Thank you to all of those who held a ‘see me’ stall throughout October. To see pictures of some of the stalls please go to our website. Don’t forget we would love to see your pictures and to put them on our website as inspiration to others – photos for both ‘see me’ for tea and Stall in a Box can be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

'see me' I'm learning
As this is the first year that 'see me' has created a Stall in a Box or asked pledge signatories to run 'see me' for Tea we know we have a lot to learn.
If you received a Stall in a Box, our materials, or 'see me' for Tea we would love to hear your feedback so we can make it even better next year. To complete our short (no more than 5 minutes) survey please click on the links above.
If you received a packet of our materials but not an official Stall in a Box we would still love to hear what you thought of our materials by filling out the Stall in a Box survey, ignoring the specific questions regarding the Wall of Support Activity.

Mental Health and the Media Seminar 2011 ‘see me’ and the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) held a joint seminar in Glasgow on 5th October to discuss the reporting of mental health in the media. The event was well attended with journalists and editors from local and national newspapers as well as key stakeholders.

The day was a great success. While there are many improvements still to be made in the reporting of mental health (particularly in relation to violence) it is clear that the Scottish media has come a long way and that the reporting of mental health is improving.

We would like to thank everyone for their input and stimulating conversation; a special thank you to Minister for Public Health, Michael Matheson MSP and John McLellan, Editor of the Scotsman for their opening remarks and participation.

'see me' Pledge Signatories We have had many organisations take the ‘see me’ pledge since our last newsletter and would like to warmly welcome them to the ‘see me’ pledge signatories group. If your organisation would like to take the ‘see me’ pledge you can find more information about signing up here (PDF version).
So a warm welcome to:
South Lanarkshire College Caithness Health Improvement Forum (pictured) Mental Health Network Greater Glasgow McDonald’s, Bellshill Edinburgh Napier University Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Loretto Care Loretto Housing Association.
'see me' I'm making movies!
Watch this space, as they say… ‘see me’ has commissioned five short web films, and four of these are now available to view and for use in discussions and training:
‘see me’ I’m being creative: this short film, includes thoughts and reflections from a wide range of Scottish artists, writers, craftspeople, poets, painters and more. This film features Lorraine Nicholson, one of our media volunteers.
‘see me I’m being active’: this film reflects on how hard it can seem to exercise when you’re not feeling well. It ‘stars’ Tom Pavey, one of our media volunteers, and explores how even slight changes to your physical routine can do wonders for your mental and physical wellbeing.
‘see me’ I’m mentally well at work’: is a film that could be used as part of workplace training or discussions, perhaps in management training, which shows the impact of dealing properly with mental health issues for the workplace. The film features Catherine Lucas, one of our media volunteers.
'see me' I'm a Supporter: Many people don’t know what to say or do when someone they know has a mental health problem. The default option is to say or do nothing – and this can feel like isolation and exclusion. This film, featuring media volunteers Gemma and Libby Patterson, explores these issues and aims to show that support from friends and family really does make a difference.
Our final film covers the issues of mental health, stigma and sexuality and will be launched in the new year.
We'd like to say thank you to all 'see me' media volunteers involved in the making of these films.
Please feel free to use any of these films, and please let us know what you think about them.
Dumfries & Galloway Regional Meeting ‘see me’ held a well-attended Regional Meeting in Dumfries and Galloway in September. The day gathered colleagues from across the region to share ideas about how ‘see me’ can support local initiatives to tackle stigma in local communities.
Laura Gibson and Claire Thirwall led the showcases with a look at the joint pledge signing of NHS Dumfries & Galloway and Dumfries & Galloway Council highlighting their action plan and their successes so far.
John McNaughton from Newton Stewart FC talked about ‘see me’s long term relationship with a local football team in raising awareness of the campaign.
Our third showcase was from Penny Nowell from Healing Spaces (one of our Local Grant awards for 2010) which explored the impact of the arts in producing creative messages.
Local Grants Scheme 2011
The successful applicants of the ‘see me’ Local Grants Scheme for 2011 have been announced and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those that applied and congratulate those that were successful.
A total of 18 grants were awarded (14 local grants and 4 equality grants) and we look forward to bringing you more details over the next few months as each project progresses. For a full list of the successful applicants from each area and the successful Equalities grants please click here.
'see me' in the Parliament It’s always useful to remind our ‘new-ish’ crop of MSPs about the importance of challenging the stigma of mental ill-health, and ending discrimination. We spent a very successful week in the Scottish Parliament in September, holding an exhibition in the member’s foyer followed by an evening reception hosted by Humza Yousaf MSP (who also sponsored our exhibition).
Several MSPs attended the reception along with ‘see me’ supporters and media volunteers. ‘see me’ volunteer speaker, Alistair McIntyre spoke about his own experience of schizophrenia, stigma, discrimination and the positive impact that speaking out has had. His talk was very well received by all the MSPs present.
MSPs showed their support in tackling stigma by signing up to our wall of support.
Humza Yousaf MSP also worked with ‘see me’ to raise the issues of stigma and discrimination amongst the Muslim community by asking Imams in Glasgow to include mental health awareness in their Friday prayers during Scottish Mental Health Week.
Richard Simpson MSP submitted a Parliamentary Members’ Motion which so far has been supported by 48 MSPs.
'see me' and Sound of Mind
‘see me’ is proud to have commissioned, jointly with Orkney Minds, ‘Sound of Mind’ – a film which was made in Orkney and includes people from the local area with lived experience of mental ill-health talking about their experiences of illness, recovery, stigma and support. This film is well worth a look and can be viewed on our website.
Other Events and News At the beginning of October, ‘see me’ had the great privilege of joining author Keith Grey and the Scottish Book Trust on a mini book tour for his novel - The Ostrich Boys. The Scottish Book Trust kindly approached us about running a series of these events at a few local schools as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and it was a thoroughly rewarding experience. The students were mesmerised by both Keith and his book. It was wonderful to see so many young people engage with the often complex subjects in The Ostrich Boys: suicide, friendship and support.
On the 6th of October ‘see me’ attended Moving Minds a BME event jointly funded by VOX, GAMH and ‘see me’ as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. The day was a great success and we hope that all attendees enjoyed it as much as we did. Thank you to our Media Volunteers Clare Elliott, Caroline Morrison and John Sawkins who helped out on the day – as ever your support was invaluable.
On World Mental Health day we held, jointly with the NHS Forth Valley, the first anti-stigma event to unite and highlight all the great work that goes on throughout the Forth Valley area. On the day there were some great suggestions for anti stigma activity - so watch this space!
Suzie was invited by FEAFES to speak at the Spanish Health Ministry in Madrid to share ‘see me’s learning and successes in fighting stigma. We have been able to provide FEAFES with (we hope) useful support and advice, as other campaigns helped us!
The following week Suzie was in Northern Ireland speaking at the launch of Northern Ireland’s new anti-stigma campaign, alongside NIAMH. She was also invited to address the Legislative Assembly regarding the work and successes of ‘see me’.
Volunteer Training In the closing week of October ‘see me’ trained two new Media Volunteers who will debut with our Children and Young People’s Campaign due to launch early next year.
In Mid November we held our third Speakers' Bureau training attended by some of our most well known and long standing Media Volunteers.
We would like to warmly welcome our new Media Volunteers to the ‘see me’ team and thank our Volunteers both new and long standing for their commitment to tackle stigma and discrimination through sharing their own experiences with others – one of, if not the most, effective ways of eliminating the stigma of mental ill-health.
If you would like to learn more about ‘see me’s Media Volunteer Programme click here.
Festive Holidays at 'see me' Our office will close at 1pm on Friday 23rd December, and re-open at 9am on 4th January.
If you require urgent help or support during this period, please call any of the numbers below, or look at the urgent help section of our website.
If you have an urgent press enquiry, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at our PR agency Stripe on 07824 664 693.
We will be continuing our monitoring of the press over the festive period.
Wishing everyone all the very best for the Christmas and New Year holidays and looking forward to working together in 2012!
Thank you for your continued support for the campaign.
- Suzie Vestri, Campaign Director

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Resources

  • Do you want a 'see me' stall at your event? If so, please contact us
  • Report stigma in the media