The Mental Health Foundation has taken over the running of the Shift Speakers’ Bureau

The following post is taken form the WEB site of the Mental Health Foundation and will be if interest to any one that uses the Shift Speakers Bureau .:

Date: 05 April 2011

Source: Mental Health

Foundation

Country: United Kingdom

The Mental Health Foundation

has taken over the running of

the Shift Speakers’ Bureau: a

network of people with a

variety of mental health

problems who are available

to speak to the media and at

public events about their

experiences. The newly-

named Mental Health

Foundation Speakers’ Bureau

will be managed by the

Foundation’s Press and PR

team.

The Speakers’ Bureau was

formerly run by Shift, a

branch of the now-closed

government agency the

National Mental Health

Development Unit (NMHDU)

that was established to help

tackle the stigma and

discrimination that surrounds

mental health issues in the

UK. The Mental Health

Foundation has taken over

running of the Speakers’

Bureau following the closure

of Shift and NMHDU as part

of the government’s

programme of spending

reforms.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief

Executive of the Mental

Health Foundation, said:

“Over the last four years, the

Shift Speakers’ Bureau has

proved an invaluable resource

for literally hundreds of

journalists, columnists,

reporters, producers and

event-organisers looking to

gain real-life perspectives on

what it is like to experience

mental health problems in the

UK.

The Mental Health Foundation

has long believed that giving

people with mental health

problems the opportunity to

share their experiences, in the

media or at public events, is

crucial to raising awareness

of mental health issues and

tackling the stigma and

discrimination that still

surrounds them.

As such, while the closure of

NMHDU and Shift is deeply

regrettable, we are delighted

that we are able to do our bit

to keep this tremendous

resource open, helping to

keep the real experiences of

people with mental health

problems in the public eye”.

Read more about the Mental

Health Foundation Speakers’

Bureau, which includes short

biographies of Bureau

Members.

If you are a member of the

media or an event organiser

who would like to speak to a

member of the Speakers’

Bureau about their

experiences, please contact

the Mental Health Foundation

Press Office on

press@mhf.org.uk / 020 7803

1110.