Tweeting Times 5 - (Page 8)
Special report Twitter celebrities pledge to Stamp out Stigma: will you? @AlisonBowie reports on an ambitious project, backed by Stephen Fry, to raise awareness about the realities of mental health problems and learning difficulties... CAMPAIGN to educate people about the realities of mental health problems and learning disabilities has been given a boost by legendary tweep, @StephenFry. Pledges for the Stamp Out Stigma campaign soared after Stephen twice tweeted about it to the Twitterverse in four days. Five Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Warrington, UK, has launched the initiative to ask people to pledge not to use words that can hurt, offend and stigmatise A “Stephen’s tweets have been a hugely important factor in this and we are extremely grateful to him and his followers for their support.” Emma Parkes, Campaign Manager people suffering from these complex and often distressing conditions. The Trust’s aim is to secure 100,000 signatures for its petition in the next 12 months. Delighted organisers watched as the pledge counter went into overdrive following Stephen’s first message which urged followers to get behind the campaign. When he tweeted again thanking followers for support and asking people to pledge, the pledge counter rocketed from 1,400 to more than 8,500. As Tweeting Times went to press the pledge counter had climbed to 23,446, but many more pledges are needed if organisers are to reach their target, so please get pledging. “Twitter has taken our campaign to another level,” says Emma Parkes, Campaign Manager, “We can immediately update our supporters with all the latest news and our following is growing by the day. Stephen’s tweets have been a hugely important factor in this and we are extremely grateful to him and his followers for their support.” The QI presenter gave his backing to the campaign in advance of its launch in April and features on the Stamp Out Stigma website. Stephen has had a well-publicised battle with Bipolar Disorder. Legendary British boxing Legend, Frank Bruno has also leant his voice to the appeal by signing the NHS Foundation Trust’s Sticks and Stones petition. The former WBC Heavyweight champion
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.