Mind launch mens mental health campaign

Mental Health charity Mind is using male service user case studies in a direct mail fundraising appeal to coincide with its Mind Week men’s mental health campaign launching next week.

The campaign is being backed by Stephen Fry and Alistair Campbell. The corresponding direct mail appeal is aiming to raise about £60,00 from a mailing to 35,000 donors who have given a small or medium size donation in the past.

The “Get it off your chest” campaign is aiming to get the government to draw-up a men’s mental health strategy by highlighting its research that shows 40% of men are feeling worried or low as a result of the recession.

This is the second year the charity has used a largely in-house created straight appeal letter pack for one of its most important appeals of the year, after its decision to drop expensive creative last year enabled the charity to cut costs and had no impact on response rate and average donation.

Despite research showing that middle-aged men are seven times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than women, Mind’s YouGov survey shows that a almost a third of men feel embarrassed about seeking help.

Mind chief executive Paul Farmer is calling for the NHS to become more male-friendly as part of the reforms it wants to see in response to the problem.

“When men look for help, they can be put off by health premises that are geared more towards women. GP surgeries offering women’s magazines can feel like a hairdressers and make men feel uncomfortable. The NHS must become more ‘male-friendly’ offering treatments that appeal to men like exercise on prescription or computerised therapy and advertising services in places men frequent,” he says.