Mental Health Awareness Week

  • Digital

  • Campaigns

  • Research and policy

Capturing lived experience to share in communications campaigns to support the charity annually

Mental Health Awareness Week is hosted every May by the Mental Health Foundation. For the last three years, we have provided communications support to the charity’s UK communications team. 

In preparation for Mental Health Awareness Week 2022, we worked to gather case studies to help contextualise our media campaign, compiling insights and lived experiences. On the theme of loneliness, this involved sensitive conversations with vulnerable adults facing mental health issues. We were responsible for the entire process from identifying individuals for case studies, managing relationships, interviewing and compiling stories for digital channels as well as coaching for prospective media bids.  During and after the Week, these were featured by the BBC, the Independent, Metro, Yorkshire Post and many more. We used a strategic approach to secure this coverage and issued five press releases throughout the week on different areas of the research in order to maximise reach. 

Last year, we contributed to an uplift in media mentions of the charity and the theme for Mental Health Awareness Week - nature. Using Savanta ComRes polling insights we pitched a core media release on the perceived benefits of nature to mental health which was widely covered across national broadcast and print publications. We also produced key talking points for Mental Health Foundation spokespeople and pitched interviews for broadcast. We secured a number of media opportunities including raising the profile of a blue prescribing project in partnership with WWT London Wetland Centre securing the top homepage feature in with the Guardian’s article - nature on prescription. 

Supporting the charity’s growth, we prepared a crisis communications manual and training for teams in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.


Project Details

Client: Mental Health Foundation

Status: Ongoing

Team: Filigree

Find out more: mentalhealth.org.uk