We’re not ok.
Two years into the pandemic, the UK’s mental health was at breaking point. To help Mind respond, I created this appeal. It became their best performing Christmas campaign ever.
It was a dire situation. The need for Mind’s support services was higher than ever - but the cost-of-living crisis meant people were giving less.
That meant it was time for something bold. Based on research with people from across the UK whose mental health had plummeted, our appeal spoke to the trauma so many of us were carrying.
I conducted first-hand interviews with people whose mental health was struggling.
We heard from people who had lost loved ones, people who had been made redundant. People who had been through hell on the frontline. People whose long-standing mental health conditions had deteriorated dangerously.
The appeal stretched across social, press, direct mail, and paid digital. And united the whole of Mind around a single message.
We told people that there is a solution to this crisis: we understand you, we see you, and together, we can fix this. And the results were incredible.
We smashed targets across the board, but our online results were best of all, delivering more than six times as much income as predicted – and, with 13 million impressions, started a national conversation.
