Introducing your Mental Health Champions

The Committee

Our mental health champions have all volunteered to take on this role as we are aware of how important maintaining good mental health is. Sometimes maintaining good mental health cannot be achieved and most people from time to time suffer poor mental health and will need someone to talk to. We have therefore established a committee with representatives from across our office to provide this support. The team has now completed “mental health first aid” training (or will be doing so over the next few weeks) and we have access to great resources that could help you.

Your team members are:

Colchester Office

Chelmsford Office

Halstead / Stanway Offices

Ipswich Office

Stratford Office

Getting in touch

We are aware that mental health can be a sensitive subject and we want to ensure that you have the time and privacy should you need to talk. We would encourage that you seek immediate support if you are not feeling yourself or have something distressing or life changing happening in your life or to those close to you. You can do this by:

1. Approaching a member of the mental health team in the office if you are comfortable to do so
2. Sending one of us an email to say you need to talk
3. Booking a meeting invitation in our diary
4. Arranging a zoom/TEAMs call

We can have a chat in a private area in the office, head out of the office for a coffee or a walk or find an alternative arrangement that will help you to feel open to talk.

You do not have to speak to a mental health champion in your office. We understand that individuals may prefer to speak to someone they do not know or do not see every day. We can therefore arrange a zoom/TEAMs call instead. You do not have to attend the video call from an office environment if you do not feel comfortable in doing so.

Whilst we will endeavour to help you in that moment, sometimes we may have deadlines or meetings that need to be tended to, or we do not have the mental capacity ourselves that day. Should this be the case then we will try to find another member of the team to support you instead, so you have the time you need.

Please note that any conversations you have with a mental health first aider will be treated as confidential and will not be reported to anyone else in the business or recorded on a file with HR.

From time to time, we may encourage others in the business to be aware if we identify that some changes in the workplace could assist you. Where there may be a risk of danger to yourself or to others, we have a duty of care to seek medical intervention on your behalf.

What’s next?

We will be working on initiatives/events around the offices for wellbeing and maintaining good mental health so keep an eye out?. We will also be sharing a calendar of events throughout the offices, please feel free to join events from across the offices, not just the one you are based in.

If you have any ideas you would like to bring to the committee, please feel free to pass this on to any member of the team.

Your Mental Health Champions