Change Together

This national award-winning programme saw volunteers with experience of mental health issues raising awareness and challenging perceptions, through talking to members of the public about their experiences.


A campaign to tackle mental health stigma across Hackney.

This national award-winning programme saw volunteers with experience of mental health issues raising awareness and challenging perceptions, through talking to members of the public about their experiences.

In partnership with Peter Bedford Housing Association, VCH trained 31 volunteers to start conversations with strangers, and over the year, held over 850 conversations with Hackney residents. The conversations took place during specially organised workshops, events and exhibitions held at venues including PBHA’s shop Outpost, their community garden, in Gillett Square and at Dalston Library. This had tremendous impact in changing people’s perceptions of mental health and was a challenging and rewarding role for volunteers.

The project was one of only 23 projects funded across the country by Time to Change, England’s biggest programme to end stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, and which received funding from the Department of Health, Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund.

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