This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, a week we take very seriously at TQUK.
Did you know that 1 in 6 people experience mental health problems in the workplace? Unfortunately, a larger statistic than we would like, and with the cost of living crisis, supporting our staff has never been more crucial.
With this in mind, five of TQUK’s staff members took a two-day course with Mental Health First Aid England earlier this year. The aim was to understand how to support colleagues with their mental health in the workplace. By the end of the course, we had five qualified Mental Health First Aiders.
We asked our Mental Health First Aiders why having resources like themselves is essential in businesses. This is what some of them had to say:
Katie Orr, our Chief Regulatory Officer, said, ‘We wanted to make sure that no one who works for TQUK ever feels alone and always has the opportunity to seek support from someone trained to listen and support in a confidential and meaningful way.’
Lisa Bates said: ‘We all know the difficulty of finding the right work/life balance and how our life problems can become so distracting when attempting to give our all to our work. Sharing these thoughts and feelings and ‘talking it out’ with someone in confidence can be so helpful.’
Since the training, numerous staff members have reached out to our Mental Health First Aiders. Everyone who has reached out for support has found that even just regular check-ins with one another help. Sometimes just having somebody listen to you can make all the difference.
Delroy Bryan, another of our Mental Health First Aiders, said, ‘For me, awareness of my own mental health can help me understand how I am doing at any given moment. This is important as it means I can be aware of my own reactions and how those actions may impact others. I believe this is a positive attribute of mine as I can use my personal experience to help others. As MHFAs, we are here to offer support to all members of the TQUK team without judgement to help promote positive Mental Health.’
Having this personable resource, we hope we can offer support and allow our staff to feel safe and listened to. We know we cannot solve everything, nobody can, but sometimes all it takes is a little bit more time and effort to gain the resources to make staff feel more supported.
Remember, if you are struggling and do not feel comfortable reaching out to a Mental Health First Aider or somebody else you trust, other resources are available. See the links below for some support.
