Together’s vision is of communities that:

• value mental wellbeing
• respect and support each person’s individual journey towards fulfilment and happiness.

Our mission

Together’s mission is to support individuals and communities to:

• achieve mental wellbeing
• realise their potential.

What we do
We work in several ways:

• by running a wide range of mental health services across the country
• by supporting families, friends and carers
• by developing new types of support service to meet the changing requirements of people who have experienced mental distress
• by researching new ways to help people live happier lives
• by supporting groups of mental health service-users locally, regionally and nationally to develop leadership skills and make their needs known to those who commission and fund services
• working with local communities to help them understand mental health issues and improve their own wellbeing
• by campaigning against the mistreatment of and discrimination against people who have experienced mental distress.

Our ten core principles

Everything we do is based upon the following ten core principles.

1 Wellbeing affects everyone
Everyone needs a sense of wellbeing but we know that anyone can experience mental distress. So we aim to support people who have different levels of mental distress, from the most severe to the more temporary.

2 We use a whole-person approach
At Together we are about people not diagnoses. We have a holistic way of working: that means when we are supporting someone we look at the whole person and take into account all aspects of their lives, rather than focusing narrowly on what’s ‘wrong’ with them.

3 We value all people, respect their experiences and differences, and value their diversity
You are important to us whether you work for us, make use of our services, support a relative or friend, or work in partnership with us. Your life experiences and the diversity you bring to us all make a positive contribution to our work, and we hope you will feel we have treated you well and with dignity.

4 People who have experience of mental distress have a special expertise People use mental health services should enjoy choice and control. At Together, people who have experienced mental distress have real influence at all levels of the organisation; their ideas inform all our work, and help shape the organisation’s future. Plus, if you make use of our services and you want to get involved in peer support or service evaluation, or are interested in becoming a leader in the survivor movement, we will support you to achieve this.

5 If it helps you, we will embrace it
When we are working with you, our first principle is ‘help not harm’. We also know that conventional approaches to treating mental distress don’t help everyone, so, if you find something that is particularly helpful – such as a complementary or alternative therapy, a spiritual practice, or pursuing a special interest – we will do our best to help you explore it.

6 The right to be part of local communities
We believe people who have experience of mental distress can make a great contribution to their communities. And we encourage everyone we work with to take their rightful place in society, to exercise their rights as citizens, and take up their responsibilities. At the same time we will challenge ignorance about mental distress, and prejudice against those who have experienced it, wherever we find them.

7 Communication is crucial
We know that we don’t have all the answers, and we want to learn from you. So we want to be world-class listeners. Whether you work for us, use our services, support a relative or friend, or work in partnership with us, we want to hear what you have to say about what matters to you, and about how we do our work. We will always endeavour to act upon what you tell us. Meanwhile we will also explain what we are doing and why we are doing it.

8 We want to support carers, families, friends, and local communities too
We are not just there for those who access our services. If we are really to make a difference, we need to embrace the great contribution that carers, families, friends and local communities can make to our work – and contribute directly to their support.

9 We aim to be efficient and accountable in everything we do
As a charity and because our funds come from statutory sources, charitable trusts and individual donors, we are committed to transparency in our business transactions: we want you to know how the money we have is spent.

10 Most important of all, we believe in thinking positive
Of course, aspects of mental distress can be heartbreaking. But we think that just makes it all the more important that we should embrace fun and joy whenever we can. So we always try to enjoy the positive things in life; to recognise potential; and to celebrate courage and achievement. More importantly, we believe that everyone has the potential to achieve personal fulfilment. And we expect recovery.

All our approaches have a solid theoretical and evidence base underpinning them but we try to translate them in a practical way, to transform what we do with wellbeing always in mind.  Among the key theorisers we draw from are Ken Wilber, George Kelly and Ruut Veenhoven, among others.  We’re particularly grateful to Wellink in New Zealand for translating the theories of Ken Wilber into the ‘four quadrant’ approach that has such wide practical application in our work.  Our values are derived directly from the international consumer leadership vision as presented to the IIMHL Conference in Wellington, New Zealand in March 2005.