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Make Time for Mental Health

The WI is calling on members to take action to make it as acceptable to talk about mental health as it is about physical health. Find out more below.

The Make Time for Mental Health logo - a purple background with two cogs - one is yellow with a clock face on the inside; the other is light pink with a blond woman's profile in the middle, there is a purple heart on her hair - underneath are the words 'MAKE TIME for Mental Health' written in white.

Mental health matters as much as physical health. The NFWI urges all WI members to recognise the importance of parity between mental health and physical health, and take action to make it as acceptable to talk about mental health issues as much as physical health issues, and to lobby government for better support for mental illness.

Proposed by Callow End WI, Worcestershire Federation

At the NFWI Annual Meeting in June 2018, delegates were clear that action must be taken to improve the way we view mental health. The WI’s Make Time for Mental Health campaign aims to tackle the stigma associated with mental health problems and asks for better support for those who need it. It calls on WI members to recognise the importance of parity between mental and physical health and take action to make it is as acceptable to talk about mental health as it is about physical health.

Educational videos  

To support federations and WIs in starting and facilitating conversations about mental health, we are launching a series of short educational videos.

In each, you will hear from a WI member with experience in this area, whether that be through personal experience or their profession.

The videos are accompanied by discussion guides, which have been produced in partnership with Rethink Mental Illness, and offer a timed agenda with suggested topics of discussion, as well as external sources of mental health support. All of these resources are free and can be used to help plan your meetings.

To give you an idea of what to expect, please take a look at a shortened version of one of the videos below.
If you would like to download the extended version of this and other videos plus our discussion guides, head over to My WI.

Campaign resources

Download the Make Time for Mental Health action pack.

Or to request a hard copy, contact the NFWI Public Affairs department: publicaffairs@nfwi.org.uk

How common are mental health problems in the UK?

According to the Mental Health Foundation:

An infographic with three boxes of information: 65% of people say they have experienced a mental health problem (next to an outline of a person's head with a cog in where the brain sits); women (70%) are more likely than men (60%) to report having experienced a mental health problem (next to an outline of a woman's head covering a smaller outline of a man's head with a cog where they overlap); people aged 18-34 (70%) are more likely to report experiencing a mental health problem in their lifetime than people aged 55 and over (58%) (next to a dark green outline of a person overlapped by a smaller light green outline of another person)