Mind fights back against benefits stigma

Posted Monday 26 September 2011

Mind has created its own newspaper, The Daily Stigma, to rebalance the public debate around benefits, welfare and mental health.

We are distributing the paper during the party conference season and we need your help to spread the message further.

Alongside our work trying to change Government policy around welfare reform, we have been looking for opportunities to push for more balanced media coverage of this controversial issue.

Although our efforts have lead to some coverage of our concerns, much of the reporting continues to misrepresent the reality of disability benefits: focusing on the small minority of fraudulent claims while largely ignoring the many problems with the system that are denying people the support they need.

So we have decided to create our own tabloid newspaper to tell the real story of how the welfare and benefits system treats people with mental health problems.

We hope politicians at the party conferences will take note of the concerns we raise in The Daily Stigma and respond by pushing for a more fair and effective system.

But this is only the first step. We want to get the message out to the public who have been so misled by much of the media, and we need your help. Here's how you can get involved:

• Share the link for The Daily Stigma on Facebook and Twitter (and use the #DailyStigma tag)
• If you would like to help us hand out paper copies at tube stations in London on 26 October, get in touch at action@mind.org.uk 
• Print off your own copies and distribute them to friends and family.

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