Our mission is: To empower people with mental ill-health, drive systemic change, based on real experiences, and challenge negative perceptions associated with mental illness, stamping out stigma and discrimination.
Our vision is: For people with mental ill health to have the support needed to thrive, and an end to restrictive and coercive healthcare practices.
Our values and culture support a holistic approach that is open and responsive to the needs of our service users and beneficiaries.
These are:
Peer-led and peer-run: Rooted in respect and understanding, we champion peer‑led, peer‑run support that empowers individuals without judgment.
Empathy: We lead with care and compassion, listening with empathy and understanding to ensure everything we do is centred on the needs and experiences of the people we support.
Empowerment is not merely a goal but the foundational operating principle. Empowerment is a core principle for Hear Us, transforming us from traditional, top-down organisations into inclusive, community-driven environments. We become active participants in our own recovery.
Standing Up for you transforms individual lived experience into a catalyst for systemic change. Because peer-led organisations are rooted in the reality of the service-user experience, their advocacy is uniquely authentic, evidence-based, and urgent. Nothing About Us Without Us!
Collaboration and inclusion are the mechanisms that transform a philosophy of empowerment into daily reality. We reject the “silo” mentality. Everyone is involved as an active stakeholder, using our lived experience to inform everything we do.
Continuous improvement: We are always looking for ways to get better. This helps us grow and change as the needs of the people we support change. Think of it like a never-ending conversation: we listen to our members and use what we learn to make our services even better. By learning new skills and looking at the big picture, we make sure we are always improving.
Accountability: Hear Us believes that trust is the most important part of our work. We treat the people who use our services like the real “experts” because they know their own lives best. We all promise to listen to each other and treat everyone with respect.
How projects reflect our core values
Our Outreach approach is proactive interaction. We keep service users informed about what we are doing regarding their benefits and help them deal with anxiety arising from benefit claims. We provide opportunities for service users to influence the care and treatment they receive, ensuring personalised care and changes to care provision across statutory and voluntary services.
Our Reachout Challenge Project combats stigma and supports active listening and responding. Other projects, including Linkworking and the Open Forum, create a space for people to speak and be heard.
We have our own lived experience of mental health. We know what it is like to have a mental health crisis, so we know that acting on what we are told is important. It is about service users feeling taken seriously and that something is being done to support them.
We are an organisation of action – getting stuff done, not just talking about it.
We are empowering people to have their say and be heard as individuals and not just be labelled as someone with mental health issues.