Blog : see me

Stripe launches ‘see me’s ‘What’s On Your Mind?’ campaign
Stripe Communications

Stripe launches ‘see me’s ‘What’s On Your Mind?’ campaign

Stripe Communications worked with ‘see me’ to help launch it’s new ‘What’s On Your Mind?’ campaign in Edinburgh with Scots singer, Rachel Sermanni, two young people with lived experience of mental ill-health: Gabrielle Quinn and Gary McGinley; and pupils from Leith Academy.

The new campaign – ‘What’s On Your Mind?’ – encourages young people to think about their behaviour towards someone their own age with mental ill-health. Through a specially developed resource pack, including a short film, posters and a suite of activities, the ‘What’s On Your Mind?’ campaign explores how support from peers can make a positive difference to people’s mental well-being.

The campaign has been developed after research commissioned by ‘see me’ revealed that almost half of young people (47 per cent) wouldn’t want people to know if they had a mental health problem, and only 17 percent thought that young people experiencing mental ill-health would recover*.

*see me’ Children & Young People Questionnaire, March 2011

‘see me’ creative writing winners announced
Stripe Communications

‘see me’ creative writing winners announced

‘see me’ – Scotland’s national campaign to end the stigma and discrimination of mental ill-health – has announced the winners of its first ever Creative Writing Competition. The winners were revealed today at a lunchtime awards ceremony at the Apex Hotel, Edinburgh hosted by Scots Makar, Liz Lochhead.

Chris Haddow from Paisley scooped the short story prize, Evelyn Weir from Haddington the poetry prize and Sian Bevan from Edinburgh was triumphant in the Twitter category. All winners were presented with the prize of £250 by the competition judges: children’s author Lari Don, Dundee street poet, Gary Robertson and well-known comedian and political activist, Mark Thomas.

The competition attracted hundreds of entries from budding writers, of all ages from across Scotland in the three competition categories. Entrants were challenged to write about the theme of ‘support’ and what it means to them. For people with a mental health problem, seeking support from those around them can be a real turning point in putting them on the road to recovery.

To read the winning entries check out https://www.seemescotland.org

‘see me’ urges Scots to take a stand against stigma
Stripe Communications

‘see me’ urges Scots to take a stand against stigma

At the launch of Scottish Mental Health Week (Sunday 3rd October) ‘see me’, Scotland’s national campaign to end the stigma and discrimination of mental ill-health, called on Scots to support each other to deliver a real impact on reducing stigma.

With over half (58%) of Scots experiencing stigma and discrimination because of their mental health problems, that’s more than three quarters of a million people , the campaign is urging people to make small changes to their own behaviour and the way they treat and respond to family, friends and colleagues who may have mental health problems. Research shows that stigma and discrimination can hinder recovery, damage self-esteem and confidence, and ultimately leave people feeling like they don’t know where to turn.

The majority of the population know someone with a mental health problem and at the launch in Edinburgh campaign volunteers with their friends and family released ‘see me’ lanterns . Each lantern displayed a personalised message of support to raise awareness and encourage others to support people they know who have mental health problems.

Suzie Vestri, ‘see me’ campaign director’, said: “People struggle to see how they can make a difference or worry that they might say or do the wrong thing and make things worse. The truth is that helping someone with a mental health problem is actually very simple. Talking, listening and being there for loved ones can help to make a real difference to those experiencing stigma. If we each commit to spending five minutes this week supporting a friend, family member or colleague with a mental health problem then we can really make a big difference.”