York Ending Stigma - Health and Wellbeing Board March 2022

York Ending Stigma (YES), previously known as Time to Change York, works to end mental health stigma. YES is funded by City of York Council until March 2025, and is hosted by York CVS.

YES Champions share their experiences in a variety of ways (openly or anonymously) including through blogs, radio interviews, videos, and via public events, both in person and online. Last year (2021), champions were very active, this report includes a few highlights and plans for 2022.

Mental health awareness week 2021 with St Nicks – an online panel discussion event on the theme of nature connectedness and mental health, in collaboration with St Nicks nature reserve.

Image 1: YES Champions and St Nicks panel representatives Zoom screen shot

World Mental Health Day on Parliament Street with The Retreat – an in person stand in Parliament Street with Champions talking to passersby to help break down stigmas of talking about mental illness and what people with mental illness ‘look like’.

Image 2: Champion Rhys with his Pets as Therapy dog Lucy, and her companion Enya

Open Mic night with York Mind at York Theatre Royal – a 75 ticket sell out event with performances on the theme of personal experiences of mental ill-health.

Image 3: Champion Lauren performing her poetry at the open mic night

Social Media Campaigning – throughout the year we share our lived experience via our many social media channels and the full details can be found on our website: www.yorkcvs.org.uk/york-ending-stigma/

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Plans for 2022

In 2022, YES marked time to talk day with an event in York railway station with York Samaritans.  Further into 2022 YES have plans for a podcast series, a yearlong focus on mental health stigma in the workplace, and specific workshops on stigma linked to self-harm and suicide.