Rethink Politics is a three year project funded by the Electoral Commission aimed at raising awareness, creating understanding and encouraging participation in politics by people who experience or have experienced mental illness. To date over 300 service-users, carers, staff and volunteers have undertaken a Rethink Politics training programme to become ‘Rethink Politics Champions’.
Taking the campaign into hospitals
Given the change in voting laws in hospitals (all mental health inpatients except those held under forensic sections are now allowed to vote), we felt that it was important to raise awareness of the Rethink Politics campaign in mental health hospitals. Rethink were invited by Wonford House Hospital, Exeter, to talk to staff about the Rethink Politics campaign in October 2008. The presentation was an interactive and informative event explaining why Rethink Politics is applicable for hospital inpatients, how politics is relevant and how political structures work. The consensus was that this was an important campaign; inpatients should be aware of the politics and their right to vote and the exercises could assist with patient recovery by informing them about citizenship, making them aware of current events, building confidence, improving decision making skills, giving them a sense of empowerment etc.
We need your help!
We are now launching a voter registration campaign and need your help to join our ‘Rethink Politics Champions’ in encouraging others affected by mental health issues to register and have a political ‘voice’. We are aiming to get an extra 5,000 people affected by mental illness onto the Electoral Register by the end of 2009. We hope that your hospital/ mental health service will want to be involved in the project as it offers the opportunity to help empower people with severe mental illness and their carers to participate in the democratic process and have their needs better understood.
What you can do?
- Hand around/ make available Why Vote Packs. Ask Rethink to supply you with Why Vote packs which include a Voter Registration form, a leaflet explaining about voting and a postcard. If you/ your hospital/ mental health service encourage someone to sign up to the Electoral Register please return the freepost postcard to us with your hospital name or your name as the Rethink Politics Champion. There will be prizes for the person who encourages the most people to sign up to the electoral register.
- Put up posters. Ask Rethink to supply with posters to outline the changes in law or highlight the Rethink Politics campaign.
- Organise a group discussion. Ask Rethink to supply you with exercises which you can use as a base for a group discussion about politics. Feel free to use your own ideas to help inspire people in your hospital to be more politically involved.
- Put Rethink Politics on the agenda for an event you may be planning. We have a budget available to support you with any event which gives you the opportunity to talk about the Rethink Politics campaign. The event may not necessarily need to all be about politics but if you put this on the agenda we are able to give you financial support which may help you pay for a venue, provide refreshments, provide promotional materials for prizes/ goodie bags, market the event etc.
- Ask Rethink to do a presentation to your staff.
If you would like more information please do not hesitate to contact Chloe Kyle 
0207 840 3143
chloe.kyle@rethink.org and check out www.rethink.org/politics