Shift: About Shift

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This website will not be updated beyond 31 March 2011.
Find out how to access our resources after Shift's closure.
Thank you for your interest in our work

About Shift

The real mental health problem

1 in 6 people will currently be experiencing problems with their mental health.

Over half of us will have a mental health problem at some point in our lifetime.

We all lose out if people with experience of mental health problems are denied opportunities that would otherwise be open to them.

About Shift

Shift is an initiative to tackle stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health issues in England. Our aim is to create a society where people who experience mental health problems enjoy the same rights and opportunities as other people.

Towards this goal, we work with groups and organisations, drawing on expertise in public health and mental health promotion, communications, disability rights, service redesign, research and evaluation. Shift builds on the mind out for mental health campaign, which ran from 2001 to April 2004.

Shift was established in 2004 following a plan called "From Here to Equality". We are part of the National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU), an agency charged with supporting the implementation of mental health policy in England in collaboration with the NHS, Local Authorities and other major stakeholders.

Our work

Shift works in the areas where people say they experience stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health the most. We also use a set of guiding principles when we start new projects to make sure the work that we do is as effective as possible.

To find out about more about our guiding principles and our current work, visit the Our Work section.

How we are organised

Our work is steered by an advisory board. Members of the Board of Advisors include people from the voluntary sector, the Department of Health and people working in the regions. The board includes people with experience of mental health problems.

The work of the programme is also overseen by the Department of Health and a cross government network focusing on mental health issues.

How you can get involved

Join the our one-way mailing list to receive updates on Shift's work.

To subscribe, send a blank email to: shift-update-subscribe@googlegroups.com. Instructions for unsubscribing can be found at the foot of every Shift Update email.

If you would like to know other ways you can help us, visit the Get Involved section.

Getting in touch with Shift

There are a number of ways that you can get in touch with Shift. Visit the Get in touch page.