Take the #MyRightsMyMind pledge

By taking the #MyRightsMyMind pledge, the undersigned hereby pledge to respect the rights of young people in the UK to access better support for their mental health. By looking to a human rights framework, the undersigned promise to do all in their power to address the barriers to young people accessing our right to the highest attainable standard of mental health – a commitment ratified by the UK government – namely by working towards:

• Age-appropriate care across the tricky ‘transition age’ as we move into adulthood. ‘Young person-centred’ services should be designed to support us with the challenges specific to our life phase, as well as ensuring a young person friendly environment and staff who understand us.
• Early identification and support – ensuring funding for ‘upstream’, community-based services that offer young people support before issues escalate, while working to reduce long waiting lists and the exclusionary thresholds that can push us to crisis point before we ‘qualify’ for support.
• Support we can access in our communities – acknowledging that not all young people can (or want to) access support in school or in a clinical setting. We have a right to access support in places we feel comfortable and that we can access easily, like in our town centres, high streets and online.
• Clear options and decisions we understand – not just being told what we can and can’t access, but feeling part of a transparent system with clear accountability structures, so we can be part of decisions about our own care and make sure our rights are met by those accountable.
• A seat at the table in decisions about our own care as well as what the system looks like. Human rights law is clear on the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’. Young people should be meaningfully engaged at every level of planning, commissioning and delivery of mental health provision.

By taking the pledge, you will be added to the #MyRightsMyMind community email list – bringing together thought leaders and decision-makers from across the mental health, youth and human rights sectors to share ideas, resources and events to inform discussion around rights-based approaches and kick-start a movement towards a mental health system that puts rights at its heart.

We’ll start the discussion by convening and moderating an email list, working towards to running some in-person events and online discussions according to emerging themes and interests in the near future.

Thanks for standing up for Our Minds Our Future