Upbeat Stroud gets behind anti-stigma campaign

26/08/2009

Stroud people were in a good mood when ²gether NHS Foundation Trust’s Making Life Better campaign rolled into town.

Visitors to the campaign roadshow at the Subscription Rooms were filmed having a relaxed chat on the campaign sofa. They also registered their mood on the Making Life Better Moodometer, wrote down their thoughts on how to make life better in their community and showed their support for the campaign by becoming members of the Trust.

Jane Melton, ²gether’s Director of Social Inclusion, said: “Making Life Better aims to raise awareness of mental wellbeing and tackle the stigma that often surrounds mental ill health.

“We were delighted with the way the people of Stroud threw their weight behind the campaign and most of the visitors to the Sub Rooms chose the ‘happy face’ to put on our Moodomoter.”

Stroud MP David Drew was among those who pledged his support to the campaign by joining Jane on the sofa to talk about the stigma often associated with mental ill health.

Mr Drew said: “I am very pleased to be associated with this important campaign. I have a long-time interest in mental health issues and have met regularly with professionals who are active in the field as well as clients who use the service.

“I welcome this initiative to show that we can do much more to tackle stigma. It helps explain that we can all do more to learn to live with mental health issues and to help those who suffer from them to overcome their problems.”

As the campaign progresses, films from the Making Life Better roadshows will be added to the campaign website at www.2getherinclusion.nhs.uk.

Talking ²gether: Stroud MP David Drew and 2gether’s Director of Social Inclusion Jane Melton on the campaign trail at Stroud Subscription Rooms