Ford Drives Campaign To Transform Mental Health Awareness
Ford have launched a nationwide awareness campaign in collaboration with Time to Change; a well-established mental health movement that is run by two charities’, Mind and Rethink Mental Illness. Their aim is to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and encourage people to “break the silence on mental health”.
Ford’s national awareness film promotes the front seat of a vehicle as a ‘safe place to talk’. Their research shows over 67 percent (two thirds) of people, were more comfortable discussing their issues whilst in a vehicle.
Ford of Britain Chairman and Managing Director, Andy Barratt said, “as the market-leading car and van brand in the UK, Ford is an important part of society and we want to use that relationship to reach as many people as possible and encourage them to ask one simple question – ‘is everything OK?’.”
Here are the five ‘Top Tips’ from Time to Change and Ford.
1. Text/call reach out – start small
2. Find a good time and place
3. Go for a coffee
4. Ask how they are – listen without judging
5. Treat them the same
Statistics show that around one in four people in the UK experience some kind of mental health problem, with half saying that isolation is worse than the condition itself.
Young men have been identified as particularly vulnerable with only a third of them (34 percent) saying they would openly discuss their feelings, and only 31 percent saying it would be embarrassing to seek help.
With both Andy Barratt and Charles Bilyeu (Chief Executive Officer, Ford Credit Europe Bank) signing the Time to Change Employer Pledge, this makes Ford one of the first automotive manufacturers to promote metal health awareness within the workplace. Working in conjunction with Mental Health First Aid England, the pledge is there to commit the organisation to providing more mental health support for all of their employees.