It’s that time again, when we look back at what we’ve achieved together this year. And what a year it’s been! For many of us, it’s not been easy. We faced the biggest cost of living crisis in a generation, and its impact on our mental health is still growing.

It’s also not been an easy year for us to campaign, as Prime Ministers, Chancellors, and Ministers in the UK government came and went. 2022 has been a year with a lot of change. But despite all of this, there is still lots to celebrate. Through all of the change one thing has stayed constant- your support. And we want to thank you for another amazing year of campaigning!

Together, we’ve made a massive difference during the cost of living crisis…

• We called on the UK government to raise benefits at least in line with inflation. Almost 15,000 of you signed our petition calling on the government to make sure benefits cover costs.

• And we didn’t stop there! Over 500 of you emailed your MP to share your experience of the cost of living crisis and ask them to raise our campaign with the Chancellor.

• Your voices convinced the UK government to pay attention. In his autumn statement, the Chancellor confirmed benefits would be raised in line with inflation, and he announced extra cost of living support too. That is a win to be proud of.

• But we know that it’s not enough. The extra money will not reach people until April 2023. This means that millions of people on the lowest incomes will continue to struggle this winter.
• We’re still pushing for the support that people need right now. Earlier this week, we sent the UK government a Christmas message and shared hundreds of quotes on how the cost of living crisis is impacting you.

But that’s not all – there’s so much more you’ve done to support the fight for mental health this year:

• After years of campaigning, the UK government have finally begun reforming the Mental Health Act. This is the law that allows people people to be detained and treated for their mental health in hospital against their wishes. In August they published their draft mental health bill, which sets out what the new law could look like.

• This is long overdue, and you have supported us to be part of the process at every step. Throughout the year several of you attended government focus groups to share your expertise and personal experiences.

• Thanks to your insights, we have also provided written evidence to the committee leading the reform and in October we attended parliament to discuss the bill with decision makers.

• We welcome many of the changes that are being introduced. But we believe there are ways to make the reforms more effective, so we will continue to campaign on this in 2023.

• Back in the summer, over 5,000 of you joined our call on the UK government to #FundTheHubs. This would provide a network of early support hubs across England – to make sure young people aged 11–25 have somewhere to go when they first start to struggle with their mental health.

• Although the hubs haven’t been funded yet, you helped us bring attention to the need for better mental health support for young people.

• Mental health sits across so many areas of the UK government’s work. So we were pleased when, earlier this year, a new 10 year cross-government mental health plan was announced. This plan is an amazing opportunity for the UK government to join up decision making across all areas that can improve the nation’s mental health.

• Hundreds of you shared with us what you think the plan should look like. The political changes over the last few months have slowed the progress but we’ll continue to push the UK government to recommit to this plan in 2023.

Whether it has been meeting your MP’s, sharing your own personal stories or signing petitions, everything you have done has helped make this year so amazing.

Thank you so much for being part of an incredible year of campaigning. I hope you take a moment to reflect on the impact you’ve had this year and as the song goes, look to the future now, we’ve only just begun…   

Take care,

Sorsha