About – Jonathans Voice

About Jonathan's Voice

Our aims are:

To increase the understanding and awareness of suicide risk, particularly in young professional men, for the purposes of reducing stigma and empowering individuals to speak about mental health by educating companies and individuals through the organisation of workshops and use of training and education materials.
To educate organisations, particularly in the professional environment, for the purpose of encouraging them to create the right support structures, policies and practice to support employees with mental health and well-being by providing workshops which inform them of the risk of suicide and of the need for such mental health initiatives.

Our Work – an overview

We seek to reduce stigma that may prevent people seeking help when they need it by raising awareness of the importance of wellbeing and mental health.

Jonathan, in whose name the charity was founded, was a patent attorney. We therefore have a particular focus on people working in the intellectual property sector and associated professions.

We work alongside professional institutions, individual firms and CIPA (Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, CITMA (Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys) and IP (Intellectual Property) Inclusive to help develop mentally healthy workplaces where all may thrive.

We provide workshops, webinars and resources . As a charity, we can offer these free at the point of delivery.

We fund vital research into better understanding of male suicide and preventative steps.

We also are pleased to respond to invitations to talk to community groups about mental health and wellbeing to increase awareness

Our future plans

Education

Continue to proactively engage with organizations in the intellectual property profession to create mentally healthy workplaces and provide resources, including training from experienced mental health professionals. Create proportionate and purposeful ways of measuring the impact of the work
Use the new digital guide for paralegals and support staff as a platform to offer training
Promote the training for those who lead, manage or supervise through the website and LinkedIn
Ensure that all the Jonathan’s Voice guides are promoted in training, webinars and through social media, particularly LinkedIn
Direct organizations to the new mental health pages of the IP Inclusive website when they become available
Create a yearly calendar of joint webinars with IP Inclusive
Respond to, and proactively seek, invitations to participate in national conferences, give presentations, contribute to webinars, seminars and journals
Continue to develop effective communication with early career professionals to ensure that the charity’s work is congruent with their needs
Further develop the work Queen Mary University of London, Bournemouth University and other training provides who deliver training for patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys to raise awareness of issues surrounding mental health and wellbeing and the support available
Make best use of the extensive expertise, knowledge and connections of the Advisory Board to ensure relevance of activities. Provide regular updates.

Research

Continue to support the research at the Suicidal Behaviour Laboratory, University of Glasgow University on suicidal behaviour in men.
Translate outcomes into practice based settings
Establish key priorities for research, including criteria for funding

Awareness

Use social media, Twitter (X) and LinkedIn, to communicate more effectively with individuals and organisations. Ensure that the messages align with the charity’s purposes.
Create and participate in podcasts. Proactively seek opportunities
Regularly post blogs on the website on a range of topics
More widely, respond to and instigate requests to deliver mental health and wellbeing messages to local radio and community organisations
Maintain and develop existing relationships with organizations beyond the IP field to support mental health and wellbeing.