DUDLEY Mind has teamed up with Merry Hill as part of a national campaign to get people talking about mental health.

Teams from the charity and the shopping centre joined forces for Time to Talk Day on Thursday (February 6) to encourage shoppers to be more open about mental health and to raise awareness of conditions such as anxiety and depression.

A seating area outside Mango was turned into ‘Chatty Chairs’ where visitors could speak to each other or charity partner Dudley Mind about their mental health.

The initiative was one of a host taking place at intu centres around the country.

Duncan Burns, marketing manager at intu Merry Hill said: “This forms part of our commitment to reducing the stigma around mental health and encouraging more open and honest conversations around mental health and wellbeing.

“intu destinations sit at the heart of communities and reach more than half the UK’s population and so it is important that we support causes that really matter to our visitors and provide destinations that are truly accessible and welcoming for all.

"Working with important organisations on initiatives such as Chatty Chairs is one way we feel that we can make a real difference to the million people a day who visit our centres.”

The scheme comes after intu’s chief executive Matthew Roberts signed The Time to Change pledge in December, a growing social movement run by charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness to transform attitudes to mental health in the workplace.