Face up to the stigma of illness

A ROADSHOW tackling discrimination against people with mental-health problems will be in Oldham on Sunday.

And residents are invited to add their support to the campaign by adding their face to the biggest “visual pledge” ever seen in England.

The Time to Change Roadshow includes an interactive stand where visitors can have their photograph taken and used in a mosaic that will feature on the website www.time-to-change.org.uk/visualpledge

Time to Change is England’s most ambitious programme to end the discrimination faced by people who experience mental-health problems.

Oldham is one of 12 sites the roadshow will visit across the country throughout September and October.

It aims to help the one in four people affected overcome the stigma and misunderstanding of the issue.

The Time to Change programme has teamed up with Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind, as well as NHS Oldham, Oldham Council and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in Oldham.

To tie in with the event, local organisations are also staging physical activities to encourage people to take part in Get Moving week.

Between October 3-11, a range of activities have been organised including health walks between Oldham town centre and Gallery Oldham, freestyle football skills with Oldham Athletic Football Club and rugby sessions with Oldham Roughyeds Rugby League Club.

Bob Mercer, chairman of Tameside Oldham and Glossop Mind, said: “Stigma and discrimination are perennial problems experience by those with mental-health problems and overcoming them is central to the work that we are doing locally in Mind.’’

John Archer, chief executive of Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Tackling the stigma surrounding mental health is at the heart of everything that we do.

“The trust has backed the Time to Change campaign from the start, and we are proud to be supporting the Get Moving event in Oldham.”

Visit www.facebook.com/timetochange and click on the visual pledge tab to sign up.

The roadshow will be in Market Place, outside the Spindles shopping centre, between 11am and 4pm.