17 March

Helping to end the stigma in 2022

Last week we hosted the launch of our This is Me campaign at Mansion House.

Attended by businesses and organisations from a variety of sectors the event welcomed a selection of speakers who introduced the This is Me initiative and explained the different tools available to help each company on their mental health journey. 

The event was chaired by Paul Farmer, CEO of Mind who began the morning by congratulating everyone who has taken part in our This is Me campaign over the last five years and who has taken the steps towards looking after their employees mental health. 

After his introduction to the event Paul Farmer then introduced The Lord Mayor of London Vincent Keaveny, who took to the stage to praise the work done by businesses in the City of London, regionally and internationally. He also confirmed that there is still much more to be done to tackle the stigma around mental health commenting “There is much we can do to support individuals and organisations opening up conversations about mental health. Mental health knows no boundaries.” 

Attendees were introduced to This is Me as a whole by Paulette Cohen from Barclays who explained about the benefits the initiative has for businesses, as well as giving an overview on the three tools which make up this pioneering mental health campaign, This is Me Storytelling, The Green Ribbon and Wellbeing in the Workplace tool.

Our This is Me Storytelling tool empowers organisations to encourage their employees to open the conversation around mental health by sharing their personal experiences. Sharing lived experience impacts the people who share their stories and those who hear them. We were grateful to be joined at our launch by Paul Rennie from GSK who bravely shared his own story around mental health and the importance of continually driving the conversation around it. “The right conversation makes such a difference. I truly believe we have to keep talking to normalise the conversation around mental health” he said.

During the event we welcomed three further speakers who offered further insight around each of the campaign tools and how they can best be used and integrated into businesses.  

Kate McAusland from LSEG offered those attending some great advice and tips on how to get started on your own This is Me campaign. Emily Rostamlou for AQA chatted about her companies own route into This is Me Storytelling and how they created their first film and the impact it had on employees. “It is not about the film and how fancy it looks it is about the message that is sends” she said. Paula Bellostas Muguerza from Kearney spoke about her own personal drive to take part in This is Me due to her own experience around mental health. Initially she found the company had reservations about how to talk about mental health and begin their journey in this area. Our Wellbeing in the Workplace tool helped them to get started and as a company they have now found they are far more proactive about mental health (than reactive to it) as employees are trained to recognise those who might be struggling early on.

Thank you to UBS who allowed us to show their brilliant This is Me Storytelling film at this launch to demonstrate one way of engaging employees within this campaign.

The event finished with an insightful Q&A featuring all our panellist who answered questions from our attendees on how to keep the conversation going, how to look after those who are giving advice and how to get the conversation started at their companies. 

You can still register to take part in This is Me this year by heading to our registration page. By signing up to This is Me you will get access to resources, support, and events to support your organisation on your mental health journey. Registering for This is Me gives you access to our three tools and we are also shortly launching our This is Me resources hub.