Mental health has seen a massive rise in awareness over the past ten years, and Time To Change Wales is a campaign set up by Hafal and Mind Cymru whose mission is to end the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems.
We were tasked to develop and produce a suite of stories optimised for social, as well as a TV ad, which supported the campaign message of the year: “Reach Out”. This encompassed the idea of reaching out to someone who may be experiencing a mental health problem, and doing this through a variety of means—whether it’s a cuppa, a chat or a phone call—these films were to show that it’s important to make those gestures to help show support.
Working alongside TTCW, we identified a group of people who would be involved with the project and would feature in the films as the main subject. What we wanted to do was show the depth of relief and support that was felt by these people during their own experiences of someone reaching out whilst experiencing bad mental health.
Having worked with mental health organisations in the past, we understand the challenges that could arise when working on a project like this. We understand that mental health affects so many people in such different ways, so it’s important that the subject matter is treated with respect, whilst also providing a compelling story that sucks the viewer in. We were keen to not sugar coat the situation, but also not delve too deeply into their darkest moments—these films give a sense of the struggle that these people have been through, but done so with a hopeful tone which also delivers the messages of support and hope through useful and helpful suggestions.
Over a period of two months, we produced seven films in total (with three of these in both English and Welsh) with a plethora of social content to support the main films. We also produced bilingual TV and cinema ads which aired following the release of the campaign, with the main films spread across social media, the TTCW website and played on national radio and TV channels.
