COUNCIL workers experiencing mental health problems are poised to get more support, with bosses pledging to give stigma the boot.

Bradford Council is giving special training to all its managers – about 900 people in total – to show them how best to support staff with problems such as anxiety, depression or stress.

And it is assembling a team of workers to champion a more open and informed approach to mental ill-health in the workplace, with those who have experienced problems in the past being encouraged to support those going through difficulties now.

The authority, one of the biggest employers in the district, is joining the national Time to Change movement run by charities MIND and Rethink Mental Illness. The movement aims to change the way the nation thinks and acts when it comes to mental health.

Bradford Council chief executive, Kersten England, formally signed the Time to Change pledge, joining hundreds of other organisations that have already committed to keeping their staff well for work.

She said: “I am very proud to sign the Time to Change pledge on behalf of Bradford Council, as it is so important that we talk more about these issues in order to help break down the stigma and improve attitudes about mental health.

“We all have mental health, like we all have physical health and, like our bodies, our minds can become unwell.

“One in four of us will be affected by mental illness in any year. The effects are as real as a broken arm, even though there isn’t a sling or plaster-cast to show for it.

“Ultimately, we need to look after our mental health as much as our physical health, so that we can lead happy and healthy lives.”

About 80 members of council staff have so far taken a course on mental health, run by the Bradford District Care Foundation Trust.

And the council is now appealing for volunteers from all departments within its workforce to form a group to help implement the new pledge.

The group – which will include those who have experienced mental ill health in the past – will work to tackle stigma and discrimination, support staff who are unwell and come up with ideas about how the council can boost the staff wellbeing and foster a more open environment.

The council has also developed its own e-learning course about mental health, which all managers will be required to complete in the coming months, and developed a mental health policy that sets out its approach to the issue.