Mental Health Awareness Week is an opportunity for all of us to raise awareness of mental health issues and advocate against social stigma.

This year’s theme is Kindness and it’s an opportunity for organisations of all types to add to the wider conversation that will be occurring on social media, television and elsewhere; to set out the importance of mental health within their organisations with their staff and to underpin this commitment with a range of activities to support learning on the subject.

Chemical and laundry engineering specialist Christeyns firmly believes it is part of an organisations’ responsibilities to take a proactive, preventive approach to employee mental ill health and is fully supportive of the awareness week.

Scott Wilson, who heads up the Mental Health Awareness programme at the firm states: “Our mental health first aid team regularly engages and updates staff on this important and sensitive issue and during the current coronavirus pandemic, reaching out has been even more crucial.  We have been circulating updates to all staff, those furloughed, those working from home and key workers, on various mental health topics every week since the beginning of lockdown.”

Christeyns management team also send out weekly blogs and telephone those members of staff who are most vulnerable. Wilson is pleased to advise that feedback has been very positive from employees who have found the support invaluable in helping them get through the COVID-19 situation at home and at work.

Mental Health Awareness Week is an ideal opportunity for everyone to get involved and to consider how activities can be deployed across the business as a whole or with specific teams, to provide staff with an avenue to educate themselves on the topic and begin a conversation around how the current situation might be impacting them.