At Kilburn & Strode we value diversity and inclusion. We want everyone to be themselves at work. Our goal is to support and promote good mental health and that means we are happy to talk about it and provide help where we can.
This year we have joined the Time to Change movement; a growing and crucial initiative to change the way we think about mental health at work.
The firm's participation is driven by Jonathan Clarke, Director of Human Resources at Kilburn & Strode: “Talking about mental health shouldn’t be something people are afraid to do – it’s not a weakness. We are committed to talking about it and doing what we can to support.”
Our Chairman, Professor Gwilym Roberts is proud to sign the pledge: “Because it aligns with our goal to destigmatise and normalise talking about health issues related to one’s mental health. We want Kilburn & Strode to be a place where everyone feels comfortable talking about mental health, and knows they will receive the help they need.”
Our plan of action to raise awareness and end the stigma attached to mental health
Since meeting for the first time last year, we now have 17 Mental Health First Aid volunteers in the firm. The group meets every six months to develop their skills and to discuss if things are heading in the right direction. The group’s common goal is to break the silence around mental health and they are always available to lend an open ear or point in the right direction if more help is required.
Our leadership team is highly supportive of this initiative. Partner, and first aider, Ryan Pixton feels passionately about the programme because “everyone can struggle from time to time” and “having the right support in place can make a big difference to how mental health issues are addressed and resolved”.
Gwilym Roberts is championing our industry-wide IP Inclusive network. It’s the umbrella organisation for the Intellectual Property profession and he has fully endorsed their work. We are founder signatories on their charter on diversity and inclusivity. As part of championing inclusivity, IP Inclusive encourage open discussion on Mental Health issues.
#TimeToChange – let’s end mental health discrimination
Jonathan Clarke, HR Director at Kilburn & Strode, feels particularly passionate about removing old stigmas still attached to mental health. With Jonathan taking the steer, the HR team have introduced sickness policies which include options to address a mental health problem; being able to describe a mental health sickness, will help normalise it.
The HR team is always available to our mental health first aid volunteers and to all staff, they are approachable and always open to have a conversation about mental health issues in a confidential and empathetic way.
We run regular events to raise awareness of our mental health first aiders and offer unconscious bias training to everyone in charge of a team.
To measure the impact of all our initiatives, we use our scores from the Times Top 100 survey which we enter each year.
What is the Time to Change Pledge?
Time to Change is a campaign to change how we all think and act about mental health problems, led by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness. It is funded by the Department of Health, Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund. Set up to create a positive shift in public attitudes towards mental health problems, Time to Change supports communities, schools and workplaces to open up to mental health problems; to talk and to listen.
For more information go to www.time-to-change.org.uk.
Department of Health
On 2 February 2011 the Department of Health launched No health without mental health, a cross-government mental health outcomes strategy for people of all ages which has the twin aims of keeping people well and improving their mental health and, when people are not well, improving their outcomes through high-quality services.
The strategy is based on six shared objectives, developed with partners from across the mental health sector, and focuses on recovery and the reduction of stigma and discrimination as overarching themes.
To reduce the stigma faced by people with mental health problems, the Department has been supporting Time to Change, the anti-stigma campaign run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, since 2011.
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is committed to supporting people living with mental health problems. The projects Comic Relief funds ensure people with mental health problems get their voices heard in the decisions that affect their lives and get the help they need to recover. Comic Relief also helps people to promote their rights and reduce the stigma and discrimination they face so that they feel more included in society. The funding of Time to Change represents Comic Relief’s largest UK grant and is part of the organisation’s long-standing commitment to this issue. For more information go to www.comicrelief.com.
About Kilburn & Strode
Kilburn & Strode is a top-tier European law firm that protects the intellectual property of some of the world’s most innovative organisations.
We are trusted to provide strategic IP advice and navigate the complex world of IP for an impressive roster of clients including leading brands such as Disney, NBC Universal, Colgate-Palmolive and La Perla, as well as some of the world’s most impressive technology companies such as Amazon, Aston Martin, Boeing, Cisco, Honeywell and LG.
Whether obtaining protection, clearing the path or defending key technologies; we offer a unique combination of experience, technical expertise and, most importantly, an approach that makes us a true extension of our clients’ teams. We have technical, legal and commercial nous second to none and we combine this with an attitude that makes working together easy. Many firms have competent patent attorneys, but we distinguish ourselves by our complete focus on building deep relationships.
Our commitment
Fiercely committed to diversity and social responsibility, we created an Innovation for All Foundation, which donates 1% of our annual profits to up-and-coming innovators. We were one of the first signatories of the IP Inclusive Charter, making a public commitment to supporting and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in the IP professions.
Kilburn & Strode is one of just a handful of leading IP firms in Europe ranked as Top Tier for both trade mark and patent prosecution in each of the Legal 500, Chambers,
World Trade Mark Review and IAM listings.
With offices in London (HQ), Munich, The Hague, Amsterdam (Hilversum) and San Francisco, we’re the only firm to connect these centres for European IP with the pulse of the Silicon Valley.
For more information:
www.kilburnstrode.com
media@kilburnstrode.com