THE staff and clergy in the main offices of
Chester diocese took time to talk to each other
recently. They were taking part in the project Time to Talk, which
was seeking to get a million frank conversations about mental
health taking place across England as part of the national Time to
Change programme to end mental-health discrimination.
The event was co-ordinated by the diocesan head of counselling
services for Chester, Jane Knight, and free resources were made
available, including tea bags that displayed a
conversation-starting idea on the packaging.
There were also fact-or-myth cards to get people talking,
together with a display and prayer cards in the Church House
chapel. The staff took part all day in the conversations about a
broad range of mental-health issues. "People opened up and shared
some deeply personal and moving stories," Ms Knight says. "It was
powerful and connecting."