3rd March 2026
Today it was announced that SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health) will no longer be host managing partner for See Me, Scotland's anti-stigma and discrimination programme. Billy Watson, Chief Executive of SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health), reflects on nearly 24 years of commitment and being lead partner for See Me.
SAMH has been with See Me since the beginning, pitching the idea of a national anti-stigma campaign to the-then Scottish Executive and playing a key role in its initial formation in October 2002 as part of the National Wellbeing Programme.
What a journey we have been on since, with See Me having originally launched as a social marketing and awareness campaign for mental health stigma and discrimination. A lot was achieved in those early days with strong positive changes measured in social attitudes. In 2013 See Me was re-founded as Scotland's national programme for anti-stigma and discrimination, hosted by SAMH and managed jointly with the Mental Health Foundation.
In 2016, See Me hosted the Global Anti-Stigma Alliance event in Glasgow, connecting with anti-stigma programmes from across the world. Since 2018, See Me has led Time to Talk Day in Scotland, which aims to get people all around the country talking about mental health, and in 2022 it conducted the Scottish Mental Illness Stigma Study – the first of its kind in the UK.
These are just a few recent highlights from our partnership, which is coming to an end as the hosting of See Me now passes to our colleagues at Penumbra Mental Health. However, SAMH’s commitment to eradicating mental health stigma in this country remains as strong as it has ever been.
Despite some progress in recent years, mental health stigma continues to be a significant problem. The Scottish Mental Illness Stigma Study found that 92% of participants reported experiencing stigma from their family and friends. We have considered our own role in anti-stigma work and we know we can and must make a greater contribution to the ending of mental health stigma in Scotland.
Ending stigma and discrimination sits as an overarching long-term goal in our strategic plan, Taking Action, Creating Change, which will continue to guide our work for the next three years. It is also the focus of our upcoming multi-year, multi-phase campaign launching next week which aims to influence policy makers and the public. Please keep a close eye on our channels for further information about this soon.
However, we have decided that the time is right for a change with hosting See Me, and I'm thrilled we're able to pass the baton on to our colleagues at fellow mental health charity Penumbra.
It has been a privilege to have worked so closely with Wendy Halliday and her team over the last number of years. There is no place for stigma or discrimination in our healthcare system, workplaces, schools or society as a whole.
We look forward to continuing to support the work of See Me as Scotland's national anti-stigma and discrimination programme and to collaborating with See Me, Penumbra and partners across the country to help create a Scotland free from mental health stigma.
