From caring to campaigning
For more than 50 years, we've been fighting for the rights of people living with severe mental illness.
1970
The Times publishes a letter from John Pringle talking about caring for his son living with schizophrenia.

Read the letter
1972
The National Schizophrenia Fellowship was born and from this,
we formed our charity and our mission began.

Read more about our mission
1973
We launched our first peer support groups for carers. Today, we run over 100 groups across England and online.

See more about our groups
1987
We start offering training about mental health and support to the general public

Read more about training
1992
We launch our telephone advice service, help thousands when they need it most.

See our advice pages
2002
We open our first crisis house. Today we run 9 crisis and recovery houses across the country

Read about our crisis services
2010
We successfully campaign for new employment rules stopping employers from asking candidates about their mental health before
a job offer.

Read about our campaigns
2011
We help to establish the Schizophrenia Commission and publish the Abandoned Illness and advise on the ‘No health without mental health’ report.

Visit our reports library
2017
Rethink Mental Illness together with Mental Health UK launch the new Mental Health and Money Advice service to help people with financial worries.

Visit the website
2020
When Covid-19 hits, we rise to meet the moment with our advice line and online information and virtual peer support groups.

Read about our covid response
2022
We celebrate 50 years of fighting for the rights of people severely affected by mental illness and their families and friends.

Read about our 50th birthday
2025
With a new brand
we are able to carry on
fighting for mental health
services across England.

Read about our brand refresh

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