Time to Change Challenge Begins!

On Saturday 18^th June the ‘Community Integrated Care Time To Change Challenge’ was officially launched!

This exciting event will see hundreds of people from across the Community Integrated Care community  pass a symbolic Time to Change Baton over 600 miles down the UK, by any means possible to help raise awareness of the government’s mental health campaign, Time to Change.  This epic journey represents the distance between Aberdeen (Community Integrated Care’s furthest Northern service) to Dorset (our furthest South).

Staff from Ladyfield Villas in Scotland got the challenge underway by carrying the baton over 30 miles by bike from Dumfries to Gretna.

When the challenge ends in Dorset on 4^th July, over one hundred people will have taken part, clocking up their miles in lots of imaginative ways – from jet-skiing to swimming, horse riding to running, with some volunteers even tandem-bike riding!

Denise Blewitt, Service Director for Community Integrated Care, says:  “At Community Integrated Carewe support many people with mental health needs and we give our full backing to initiates such as Time to Change. I am so proud of all our service users and staff who have really worked together to create this unique event and do something amazing to help promote better equality for people with mental health concerns.”

Sue Baker, Director of Time to Change, said: “We want to thank everyone at Community Integrated Care for taking part in this incredible challenge and for helping to raise awareness of the stigma surrounding mental health problems.

“One in four people will experience a mental health problem in any year, but despite this people still face stigma and discrimination that can stop them leading full lives. Events like this are a great way of challenging stigma by getting mental health into the open.”

See photos and videos of our amazing challenge by reading our Time to Change Blog!