Our approach to campaigning

Our supporters have made it clear to us that welfare reform is currently one of the most important issues for people living with mental health problems.

We are committing a great deal of time and effort to fighting for reform that is fair, effective and supportive.

Since this issue has such a fundamental impact on people's lives, we understand that they want to be certain that we are doing all we can to protect them.

What are we aiming for?

From previous experiences of trying to influence welfare reform, we know that it is very difficult to change Government plans on these issues, despite our best efforts.

But we have achieved positive changes in the past, such as in the Welfare Reform Act 2009 and through the Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment.

We are committed to making sure that the Government is made aware of any negative impacts of current or proposed policies on people with mental health problems.

In addition, we will continue to push for a benefits system that treats people with mental health problems with respect, dignity and care. We also want to work on changing the way that disability benefit claimants are portrayed by the media and perceived by the public.

What are we doing?

During this current period of fast-moving policy development and announcements the most effective way for us to influence the process is through working with other disability charities and engaging with the Government to represent the concerns and interests of those with mental health problems.

Although this work may not always be visible to our supporters, we strongly believe that we are using the most effective tactics at this time.

We are also using public actions, such as our involvement in the Hardest Hit campaign, and our Daily Stigma newspaper, to promote our message and raise awareness of the issues we are working on.

The media

We face a media that is largely hostile to benefit claimants and shows little interest in presenting a balanced picture of the situation.

However, we have managed to achieve coverage of our concerns and we will continue to seek any opportunities to publicise our position.

We have also been taking on the negative media coverage through our Daily Stigma work.

Help us by taking action today.