Member Article

Chasing the Stigma Celebrates Birthday With New Rebrand

National mental health charity, Chasing the Stigma, creator of UK’s leading mental health support signposting app, the Hub of Hope, has unveiled a new rebrand just in time for the charity’s fourth birthday on December 14th, 2020.

The charity, which is on a mission to normalise mental health and aims to make getting help as easy as possible, has undertaken an overhaul of its brand, including refining its mission, unveiling a new logo and launching a new website. The charity has also made vital updates to the Hub of Hope app, due to increased use, which has been accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The charity has also added new filters to make it easier to search and access the 2,000 services listed. FAQs and factsheets about common mental health issues are now available in the app, and there is also more direct access to Samaritans and Crisis Text Line for those needing immediate help.

Further development of the app now gives commercial and charitable partners the opportunity to embed the Hub of Hope directly into their own website or app. This means that organisations across the country can offer the same, consistent route to support for anybody struggling with their mental health.

Chasing the Stigma was set up by Liverpool comedian, Jake Mills seven years ago following his own suicide attempt. Jake realised when talking through his own personal experience that many people didn’t know where to turn within their own mental health issues, so Jake and his team created the Hub of Hope – an app to bring together all of the mental health support available to someone in any given area.

The Hub of Hope app is the only service of its kind that brings together NHS, Samaritans, Mind and more than 2,000 registered national and local voluntary, grassroots, private and third sector mental health support services to date. So, no matter what support someone needs and no matter what age they are, there is help available.

Since the launch of the app in 2017, the Hub of Hope has directed more than 200,000 people to life-changing and even life-saving help. The site has proved particularly popular amongst men aged 25-54, who are often cited as being most likely to die by suicide.

Jake Mills, founder, commented: “Our mental health has our never been more important than it is now and Covid-19 is having a catastrophic effect on people across the UK. We are the nation’s signposting tool for mental health support, and we have seen an increase in numbers coming to our website and downloading the Hub of Hope app.

“With this increase, comes added pressure as we don’t want anyone to slip through the net and we have to ensure everyone who is looking for help receives this. Being a gateway to recovery, our new website has the relevant resources clearly signposted, and we have the functionality in the website and the app to help all those people looking for mental health support.”

The Hub of Hope can be accessed through the app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Play Store (Android), via desktop or through the Chasing the Stigma website. For anyone who had the old app on an Android phone, then the app will need to be deleted and downloaded again to benefit from the new functionality and added services.

The Hub of Hope is also used by emergency services and NHS Trusts across the UK and has been commended by the UK’s leading mental health charities including Mind, The Samaritans and Anxiety UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nikki Girvan .