Our pledge to end mental health discrimination

October 8, 2020 Written by Laura Oliphant

People are at the very heart of what we do, our biggest assets and what makes Stand what it is. We knew this way before the pandemic came along, but the lockdown made us think of new ways of listening to our teammates, made us even more sensitive to individuals’ needs and got us all thinking more about each-others’ mental wellbeing.

As of this week we’ve taken another meaningful step towards supporting our staff by signing the Time to Change pledge, and becoming one of over 1500 organisations working towards ending mental health stigma in the workplace. We’ve committed to creating a cultural change within Stand, and by extension in the industry at large and all the communities we are a part of.

We’ve pledged to undertake a comprehensive year-long action plan which involves investing in our employees’ wellbeing, encouraging conversations about mental health at work, creating a framework for our employees to get the support they need, working mental health into our people management systems and much more.

We were already doing some of these things but taking the Employer Pledge has allowed us to formalise the process, as well as access the support and resources offered by Time to Change.

In a happy coincidence, our pledge comes right before World Mental Health Day, a great opportunity for anyone reading this to consider what they might be able to do to open up a discussion about mental health, to talk and to listen to those around them. If you know anyone who’s struggling, or maybe you need some support yourself, Time to Change has put together this handy list of organisations you can reach out to.