NSUN is a membership organisation creating a mental health justice movement to fight harmful systems and build better alternatives.
As England’s only lived experience-led national mental health charity, we connect, support and amplify the voices and work of our members: people with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress or trauma, as well as user-led groups.
Our work focusses on building and sharing knowledge, resourcing grassroots groups, and disrupting harmful structures, policies and practices.
Find out more by visiting our “What We Do” page.
Our history and the language we use
Our name came from the survivor/service user movement, referring to those who have survived trauma (including psychiatric survivors, who have experienced harm within the mental health system), and those who use or have used mental health services (sometimes called ‘service users’). There is no one unified narrative around what it means to experience long-term mental distress; NSUN was set up to gather and hold these diverse narratives and represent them in an authentic, safe and powerful way.
Read more about our history, and the language we use, on our “History & Language” page.
Our vision, mission and values
NSUN’s charitable aims are:
- To create and strengthen links between individuals and groups
- To support and promote user-led groups and initiatives
- To influence and inform policy and decision makers
Mission
To create a mental health justice movement, led by those with lived experience, that fights harmful systems and builds better alternatives.
Vision
A world with a just approach to mental health, where we all have the freedom to give and receive care on our own terms.
Values
Our values are solidarity, equity, integrity and intersectionality.
We bring to the mental health sector an authentic focus on lived experience and a commitment to social justice. We sit in a unique place, between the grassroots and the mainstream, and at the intersection of health, disability, and human rights. As such, NSUN is committed to equity and inclusion within our teams and within the work we do.
NSUN has a zero-tolerance approach to racism with an aim to be an anti-racist organisation. We are committed to ensuring we have a culture of trust, with safe spaces and systems, where our members, trustees or staff experiencing racism feel confident to come forward and know that they will be listened to and their concerns will be acted upon.
NSUN is an explicitly trans-inclusive organisation. We aim to co-create a work environment that is welcoming of trans, non-binary and intersex colleagues. We are committed to ongoing training on trans equality for staff, associates, and trustees, and we have recently finalised an internal Transitioning at Work Policy, setting out how NSUN will support staff through transition.
NSUN follows the social model of disability and as such recognises that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their “impairment” or “difference”. As an organisation, we want to work towards the principles of the disability justice movement. You can read about the social model of disability here.
If you’re not happy with any aspect of the NSUN team’s work or you feel our work is not in line with the vision, mission, values, or aims of the organisation, then you have the right to complain, have your complaint investigated, and be given a full and prompt reply. You can download the NSUN Complaints Policy via our policy list on our “Governance & Finance” page.