How you can help

How you can help

There are many things you can do to support the Stubbing Out Our Rights campaign - here are just a few ideas:

1.    Sign the online petition
This is an effective way to show your opposition to the restrictions. The online petition will close on 6th May 2008 and the signatures will added to those collected via the paper petition, before being presented at Downing Street. The online petition can be found here.

2.    Collect signatures for the paper petition
Not everybody will be able to get online to sign the petition, particularly the people who will be most affected by the restrictions – current mental health inpatients. You could distribute the petition in your local area, around your service user/survivor group or workplace, or ask for it to be put up on the noticeboard of your local inpatient ward. If you use the freepost address on the bottom of the petition it won’t cost you a penny to return it – you just need to find an envelope. The paper petition can be downloaded from here.

3.   Tell us what you think about the smoking restrictions in inpatient units
If you have personal experience of being an inpatient, we'd really like to hear how you think the smoking restrictions will affect you (or how they are already affecting you, if your local Trust has implemented the restrictions before the 1st July deadline). Likewise, please contact us if you work on an inpatient ward and tell us how the restrictions will affect you and your work. We'd particularly like to hear from you if you'd be willing to talk to the media about your experiences.

4.    Tell everyone you know about the campaign
You can use the ‘Tell a friend’ feature on this website or on the online petition website to let friends and colleagues know about the campaign. If you have a website or a blog, show your support by putting up a link to this website and/or the online petition.

5.    Ask your organisation to support the campaign
Do you belong to a service user/survivor group, or work/volunteer for a mental health organisation or an independent advocacy service? Ask the Chair or Chief Executive of your organisation to consider officially supporting the campaign, and distribute the link to the online petition and/or the paper petition throughout the organisation and their networks. In return, we will add your organisation’s name and a link to their website to our ‘Supporters’ page.

6.    Write to your MP
Let your MP know that you are concerned about the restrictions by sending them a letter, fax or e-mail. Some ideas for what to write, including a sample letter, will be put up on this website shortly, as well as information on how to contact your MP.

7.    Join the ‘Stubbing Out Our Rights’ Facebook group
Join the group, invite all your Facebook friends and ask them to support the campaign by signing the petition. The group can be found here, or do a search for ‘Stubbing Out Our Rights’.

8.   Add a link to the campaign website and online petition to your e-mail signature
You can do this by copying and pasting the following block of text into your e-mail signature:

Support the Stubbing Out Our Rights campaign –
Against the smoking restrictions in mental health inpatient units
Online petition: http://www.petition.co.uk/smoking_in_mental_health_units
Website: http://www.stubbingoutourrights.org.uk
Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22049824312

9.   Make a donation to WISH
WISH is a small charity, and a our campaigning work is done on a shoestring. Any donations, big or small, are appreciated and help us to continue campaigning on the issues that are important to our members. You can make a one-off secure online donation here, or set up a direct debit for regular donations here. You can also raise funds for WISH when you shop online by signing up with easyfundraising.

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