Helen, VP Welfare talks about signing the Time to Change pledge on Monday.
At AMM I took a motion to ask students whether they wanted their Students’ Union to sign the ‘Time to Change pledge’. This a public statement of aspiration that an organisation wants to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination, and the motion passed almost unanimously.
What makes this campaign different is that we must also submit an action plan to show what meaningful action we want to take which will lead to change. Our aims are to raise awareness about mental health, encourage open discussion, reduce stigma, and improve mental health support for students at Cardiff University.
Cardiff University and Cardiff Students’ Union will be signing the pledge on the 2nd June at 9.15-9.45 in front of the Main Building and any students and staff are invited to come along to show that you want to help to put a stop to mental health stigma and discrimination.
Earlier in this Academic year, Cari Davies the Students' Union President wrote about her struggles with Mental Health.
"Hi I’m Cari, your Students’ Union President and I struggle with my mental health. People with mental health issues are not one homogenous group and their experiences are not all exactly the same. I would never begin to assume I speak for them all and I would not want others to feel misrepresented by the things I say. What’s important though, is that people feel able to talk about these things if they want to! At times the stigma associated with mental health can be just as crippling as the illness itself and so the vicious cycle continues." Read the rest of Cari's Article here.