People who've used a Mind service

We’re always looking for people who've been supported by Mind, to help us raise awareness of our services and reach people who might need our support. Please get in touch if you've:

• Called Mind’s Infoline or Legal line for advice
• Used Mind’s Side by Side community
• Been helped by a local Mind or used their services

People of colour

We know that people of colour face disproportionate mental health challenges because of systemic racism. Our own research tells us that people of colour have also been among the hardest hit by the pandemic.

Mind are working hard to support and represent more people of colour to share their stories. We need to genuinely speak up and stand up for communities that have been historically under-represented in our work.

We'd like to hear from anyone experiencing a mental health problem who identifies as being from a racialised community. And we'd particularly like to hear from:

• People who have experienced racial trauma which has impacted their mental health
• Young Black men (aged between 18-30 years old)
• People from a South East Asian ethnic background or from mixed South East Asian heritage

Money, benefits and mental health

Since summer 2021, Mind’s Infoline has seen a 40% rise in calls from people dealing with problems with money, unemployment and benefits.

Callers are telling us they feel on edge about their finances, and they're worried about paying bills. To help highlight the issue, we’re keen to hear from people who:

• Are getting working-age benefits or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and have experienced poor mental health.
• Receive benefits and are worried about the government transferring them to Universal Credit.
• Had a negative experience being assessed for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Universal Credit (UC) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
• Has experienced poor mental health for the first time since March 2022 because of the cost of living, and has tried to get professional support. This could be financial support like debt advice or a food bank, or medical support, like going to a GP or therapist.

Support for young people

It’s vital that young people have access to the right mental health support. However, we know too often young people can’t get help for mental health when they need it, and find that the kind of support they need either doesn’t exist or isn’t delivered in a space they feel comfortable talking about their mental health.

We’re keen to hear from anyone aged 18-25 who:

• Has struggled to access mental health support – this could be through school, the NHS or somewhere else
• Has had to wait more than a year for support
• Has struggled to find or afford specific mental health support to suit their needs for example, because of their background or diagnosis
• Has accessed mental health support somewhere other than school or the NHS

Parents and legal guardians of under 18s

Young people in the UK have higher mental health needs than ever.

Research shows 1 in 6 young people in England experienced a mental health problem in 2020, up from 1 in 9 in 2017.

We need your help to highlight the issues young people are facing. We want to hear from parents, guardians and caregivers of young people who received mental health support when they were under 18.

We want to hear your perspective on the support they received and how this impacted you both.

People in Wales

We need your help to highlight the challenges people in Wales are facing when trying to find the right mental health support.

We’d like to speak to anyone living in Wales who:

• Has had difficulty accessing talking therapies in English or Welsh
• Lives in a rural area in Wales and has tried to access mental health services