What does Hull City Council have in common with celebrities including Gillian Anderson, Davina McCall, Glenn Close, Freddie Flintoff, Professor Green, Nadiya Hussain and members of the royal family?
They are all backing a new mental health project, Every Mind Matters, designed to help people have better mental health.
In a landmark TV takeover this week, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky channels simultaneously screened a short film written by Richard Curtis, and directed by artist Rankin, featuring the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as well as those famous names.
Available to watch online, it talks about the ways we can look after our mental health and invites everyone to take this short quiz which uses people’s answers to create an individualised mental health action plan.
A survey found eight in ten people (83 per cent) have experienced early signs of poor mental health in the past year – this can include feeling anxious, stressed, having low mood, or experiencing trouble sleeping. While all of these can be normal responses to life’s challenges, they can become serious if left unchecked.
Julia Weldon, director of health at Hull City Council, said: “None of us are immune to experiencing poor mental health – that includes celebrities, royals, and all the rest of us normal people dealing with everything daily life throws at us.
“Every Mind Matters is here to empower all of us to better understand our mental health, early signs of poor mental health and the simple steps we can take to make things better.
“There is no shame or stigma in poor mental health – the research done for this campaign very clearly demonstrates that those who don’t experience any poor mental health at all are a small minority.
“The quiz takes just minutes and the plan it creates for you is instant and you can have it emailed to you. The techniques in the plans are very well-researched, tried and tested and can make real, tangible differences”.
The launch follows 18 months of planning and local and regional piloting, developed with clinical and academic experts, national mental health charities and input from real people who have experienced problems.
GPs will be using the resource with patients, the NHS is promoting it to all employees and big high street names will also adopt it to support their staff. Search Every Mind Matters for more.
