Centre for Mental Health

Sainsbury Centre welcomes beginning of Time to Change campaign

21 January 2009

Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health today welcomed the national launch of the Time to Change campaign, led by the charities Mind and Rethink.

Sainsbury Centre chief executive Angela Greatley said: "Ignorance and prejudice about mental illness have far-reaching consequences. Discrimination, harassment and exclusion have for too long been everyday experiences for people with mental health problems.

"I am delighted that the Big Lottery Fund and Comic Relief have invested in Time to Change. It gives us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to challenge the myths about mental illness and to enable those who are affected by it to live their lives free of discrimination.

"The scale of the challenge is immense. Only one person in five with a severe mental illness is in paid employment. And an estimated one million people with depression are out of work, often for a lack of basic support from their GP and their employer. This is a massive waste of potential.

"Time to Change is our best hope of demonstrating that people with mental health problems have as much to contribute to society, and deserve to be treated with as much respect, as anyone else."