40 years ago, one man bravely spoke about his family's experiences of mental illness in a letter to the Times and in the process brought together hundreds to talk about their experiences of mental illness an support each other. Today we directly support almost 60,000 people every year across England to get through crises, to live independently and to realise they are not alone. Our website and helplines give information and advice to 500,000 more and we change policy for millions. We carry out research to make sure we really deliver results for people, young or old. Our services, support groups, and members cover every county in England, giving us local insight and helping us spread innovations nationally. All our work is governed by people who have lived through mental illness.
The leading voluntary national services provider
Rethink Mental Illness is the largest voluntary sector provider of mental health services with around 250 services across England. We have the experience, track record of success, support framework and economies of scale which means commissioning us straightforward and effective for you.
Our beliefs and values
Hope:
We know that mental illness does not have to mean the end of someone's hopes and dreams. Every day we support people to realise their potential as we work to improve the lives of the millions affected by mental illness. We work with the different circumstances and goals of each individual, recognising people's personal strengths and resources.
Understanding:
People affected by mental illness are at the heart of our organisation, in our governance, our membership, our workforce and in our campaigns. Through first hand knowledge and experiences, we understand the profound impact of mental illness, and the effects of stigma, myths and misconceptions about it.
Commitment:
We work hard, and for as long as we can, to provide help, support, services, information and advice for people with mental illness, families, friends and carers. We provide a safe space for all to share their experiences on what can be a long and difficult journey.
Expertise:
We focus on what works for people affected by mental illness, providing the support, treatments and practical solutions which get positive results. We will continue to build on our roots as the expert charity in terms of helping people affected by schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical depression and other mental illnesses.
Passion:
We believe in the power of people speaking out to get better outcomes for everyone affected by mental illness. We are a collective voice for millions, fighting for poeple's rights, promoting the reality about mental illness and raising awareness, challenging negative attitudes and campaigning for more effective care and support.
Our focus on outcomes
So that we and our commissioners understand what is effective, our research team is independently funded to work with people who use our services and staff to collate evidence about our services. We effectively manage and monitor our work to bring cost effective solutions that have been tested with an evidence base behind them and help reduce inappropriate and costly hospital admissions. Our talking therpapies services, for example, deliver NICE approved, evidence-based psychological wellbeing interventions.
Social inclusion
We are striving to ensure that all our services promote social inclusion. We help people who use our services to play as full a part in the community as possible and provide many services within a community setting, for example our community support, employment and training and talking therapies services.
Service personalisation
Rethink Mental Illness feel strongly that, as far as possible all services should be personalised so that people have more choice and control over their lives. We are working with people who use our services and carers to develop models of personalisation within our services.
