Over the last few years we've come a long way. But there's still more to be done. The focus of our strategy is on supporting the people disproportionately affected by mental health issues. People from racialised communities, young people, and people living in poverty.
Find out more about our strategy and what it means for our work on this page.
Our 4 pillars
Our pillars describe what Mind does and how we will work to achieve our ambitions.
We connect minds
We bring together people and organisations who want to join the fight for mental health.
- We’ll create more inclusive spaces – locally and nationally – that make it easier for adults and young people with mental health problems to lead our work.
- We’ll work with partners to share learning and generate new ideas to help address the most complex issues and tackle injustices in the mental health system.
- We’ll continue to support the peer support movement and offer somewhere safe to give and receive peer support 24/7.
We support minds
We will meet the mental health crisis caused by the pandemic head on, by supporting people through face-to-face and online services.
- We’ll give life-changing mental health support – drawing on personal experiences and the best available evidence.
- We’ll offer an information service that helps people with mental health problems to get support, assert their rights and feel hopeful.
- We’ll work with employers, schools and in community settings to create thriving places to work and learn for all – especially those with mental health problems.
We change minds
We fight for better services and rights for people with mental health problems, and push to improve public attitudes to mental health.
- We’ll speak out when things aren’t right and demand mental health support that respects our rights, keeps us safe and gives us hope – regardless of our background.
- We’ll lock in improvements in public attitudes towards mental health – with a focus on the least understood experiences.
- We’ll campaign for a robust financial safety net that prevents us getting trapped in poverty when we are unwell.
- We’ll share our platform with people who are too often ignored, so they can be a powerful force for change – with Mind as a partner.
Together, we are Mind
We work together to become a more inclusive and effective federation.
- We’ll work with our fantastic supporters to grow our income and encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to take part in our work.
- We’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with local Minds to increase the impact of their life-changing services and local influence.
- We’ll build a diverse workforce with an inclusive organisational culture – so we can be a great place to work for all.
Our 3 strategic development priorities
These are the areas where we know we need to do more, to respond to urgent needs.
Becoming an anti-racist organisation
We will be an unflinching advocate for racial justice and mental health.
Our support will be engaging and effective for people from racialised communities. We will invest in building an inclusive organisational culture with diverse leaders.
Read more about our anti-racism work
Supporting young people
Our ambition is to become an influential advocate for young people's rights.
We will fight to ensure that all young people learn about mental health and can easily access trauma-informed mental health support.
We will create more opportunities for young people to lead our work.
Read more about our work with young people
Fighting for people in poverty
We want to stop people with mental health problems getting trapped in poverty. We will campaign for a robust welfare safety net. We will become a leading provider of mental health financial inclusion advice and support.
And we will build strong partnerships to tackle the complex relationship between mental health and poverty.
Read more about our work with people in poverty
This year, we’ve invested over £4m in new programmes to support these important areas of work.
These include:
- Building long-term partnerships with by and for grassroots and community-led organisations to improve the mental health of people from racialised communities
- Working with the Anna Freud Centre to create an early support service in schools
- Strengthening existing, and building new, local, and national partnerships to ensure better referrals between local Citizens Advice, Trussell Trust and local Minds
- Supporting our local Minds to invest in services linked to these three areas of work
On reflection
Mental health is not hidden any more; it’s on the front pages; it’s on the political agenda; it’s spoken about by royalty. For millions of people, mental health is now something to be honest about – not ashamed of.
The Mind community has been at the heart of this transformation. Together, we’ve shown what mental health really looks like, what support makes it better, and what needs to change.
