Volunteer strategy launch
Posted by See Me, 20 April 2022
We are launching our brand-new volunteer strategy - See Me, See You, See Us - to help people across Scotland to take action to end mental health stigma and discrimination.
Volunteers are at the very heart of our work at See Me – but we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to make the volunteering experience inclusive, enjoyable and impactful.
At present, 115 people volunteer with See Me. Their work is embedded throughout the programme and the wider See Us movement to end mental health stigma and discrimination.
Volunteers help us by sharing their stories in the media, speaking at events, leading engagement in our key settings, consulting on resources and documents, feeding in to policy and much more.
See Me’s 2021-2026 strategy, With Fairness In Mind, outlines that See Me will, over the next five years, "achieve change at scale to tackle the deep rooted stigma and discrimination that directly affects people who have mental health problems in Scotland today".
Widening our reach
Volunteering will play a vital role in enabling us to reach across Scotland to a wide range of different people and communities.
See Me, See You, See Us – developed in partnership with See Me volunteers – outlines the commitment we are making to our volunteers over the next five years.
It maps out how we’ll work with our volunteers, both current and new, to make sure that we all get the most out of the programme.
The strategy has four key priorities:
- Our volunteers are more diverse
- We increase the impact and reach of the volunteer programme
- Volunteers are fully integrated across the programme
- See Me is recognised as an enjoyable place to volunteer
Working towards change
See Me director Wendy Halliday said: “It’s no exaggeration when I say we couldn’t do what we do without the views, experiences and expertise of our volunteers at See Me.
“It’s vital that we make sure that everyone who gives their time to help us in our work to end mental health stigma and discrimination has a meaningful experience – and that they’re able to contribute in a way which contributes towards real change.
“See Me, See You, See Us is designed to ensure that our volunteer programme is beneficial for everyone. I’m so impressed by all of the work our volunteers already do, and I can’t wait to see what more we achieve together under the direction of the new strategy.”