'No one needs to face mental illness alone' - Highland mental health charity relaunches with new identity
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Mental health charity Support in Mind Scotland has relaunched as 'Change Mental Health' in a bid to meet its ambitions of breaking down barriers, supporting more people and providing transformational services.
The charity – which has resource centres in Alness, Golspie and Fort William – is in its 50th year of delivering care and support to people affected by mental illness. The change is expected to be accompanied by a new brand and website, to match a refreshed vision, mission and values, putting people with lived experience at the heart of the work the charity does.
The charity says that the rebrand forms part of a push to become more public facing and accessible to better reach people affected by mental illness. Including the phrase ‘mental health’ has erased the need for a strapline and will fundamentally lower barriers to people who don’t necessarily identify with mental illness.
Even though the charity has rebranded with a new identity and name, their mission remains the same: making sure that people have the support they need, when they need it and in a way which works best for them. These person-centred approaches have been at the forefront of the charity since its inception, which has a significant footprint in delivering support to communities across the Highlands.
Its resource centres run one-to-one and group support to develop skills and increase confidence, as well as providing emotional support and signposting to carers and outreach support to the wider Highlands community to reach people in the remotest areas of the region.
Change Mental Health has led the Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme since 2017 and offers rapid referral to solution-focused support for people aged 16 and over who are experiencing distress. The charity also improves health outcomes for people experiencing stressors in their lives by working with GP surgeries through social prescribing in the Community Link Worker project across the Highlands. There is also a focus in the locality on supporting families and friends who have been impacted by the loss of someone to suicide.
A service user supported by Change Mental Health through the Community Link Worker project in the Highlands, said: “I have just been feeling really motivated after speaking to Change Mental Health. And things are moving in a positive direction now and I think that's a lot to do with their help. They inspired me to make some changes!"
Change Mental Health also supports people nationally, through its Information, Mental Health and Money Advice service as well as the National Rural Mental Health Forum to tackle poor mental health in rural communities and educating educators in schools and colleges with its Bloom and Your Resilience programmes.
Nick Ward, CEO for Change Mental Health, says: “We have grown so much over the past number of years and so have our ambitions to support more people in more parts of the country. With this new identity, we want to pay homage to our past and represent the different types of support we can offer along with the tapestry of different people we work with.
“The name Change Mental Health is a call to arms. We want to see changes in mental health support and provision for everyone and we want to change society by changing attitudes, fighting stigma and influencing government. Ultimately Change Mental Health wants to build a future where no one needs to face mental illness alone.”
