WHY
Birmingham City Council set out to make Birmingham a Mentally Healthy City, one where everyone can feel safe, supported and connected.
The aim was to listen to communities and build a clear, co-produced plan that strengthens mental wellness and resilience across the city.
HOW
Together, we designed a three-stage co-production process:
- Engage and listen – gathering insight from Birmingham’s diverse communities.
- Test and refine – shaping priorities based on what people said.
- Co-develop the final strategy – working collaboratively with residents, partners and stakeholders.
Workshops, coffee mornings, and wellbeing groups were held in local, trusted spaces. with conversations also happening onhigh streets and university campuses to make engagement accessible and inclusive.
WHAT
Insights from communities shaped four priorities for a Mentally Healthy Birmingham:
- Improving awareness and opportunities to talk about mental wellbeing.
- Ensuring safety and security for all citizens.
- Raising awareness of and access to support services.
- Empowering communities to support each other.
At the core of these priorities lies a commitment to equality, inclusion, and celebrating diversity.
Informed by the voices of citizens, these co-produced priorities will guide Birmingham’s Mentally Healthy City Strategy, helping individuals, families and communities to live well and stay resilient.
Ready to explore what’s possible next?
Informed by the voices of citizens through co-production, these priorities will help shape the final Mentally Healthy City Strategy, supporting individuals, families, communities, and places across Birmingham to be mentally healthy, well, and resilient.
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Local people engaged & worked with
8
Key themes identified
1
co-produced strategy
“ICE were very understanding of tight timescales and worked flexibly to support us. There were a couple of bumps in the road, but ICE were quick to resolve them and did this in an empathetic fashion. We received fantastic insights from the work, and it was communicated very clearly and visually in a well written report. Thank you for all of the hard work”
