A big Thank you to SUEZ UK

Golden Tree CIC have had the privilege of working with SUEZ recycling and recovery UK for a number of years delivering various mental health awareness courses.?In 2019, after some initial conversations, Simon was invited by Dr Tracey Leghorn to a meeting of Health and Safety Reps to deliver the L1 First Aid for Mental Health Awareness (FAfMH) course. It was decided from that point that the L1 FAfMH course would form an integral part of the mental wellbeing domain of their Wellness Strategy that was being driven by the SUEZ UK Board and Human Resources team.

What is important to stress is that this is just one element of their wellbeing programme as their strategy aims to reach all aspects of health that their people have identified as important to them and every employee in the business. A whole range of measures have been reinforced and promoted across the business including an amazing Employee Assistance Programme, the introduction of a Wellbeing and Inclusion Manager and over twenty Wellbeing Ambassadors across the business.

?We at Golden Tree CIC have been proud to be able to contribute to many strands of this strategy including training the Wellbeing and Inclusion Ambassadors. We are particularly proud of the bespoke wellbeing and mental health one-day training programme for Driver CPC that we were asked to develop. This is potentially the first of its kind and was accepted by JAUPT (the awarding body). We then trained members of the Health and Safety Training Team to deliver that programme to around 1,500 drivers. We have also worked with SUEZ UK veterans, been a regular part of a weekly webinar programme that started in lockdown but became a core part of their ongoing programme.

?The commitment from the whole Team at SUEZ UK is impressive and inspirational. We have said in other posts that we believe their strategy and approach is an excellent exemplar that other businesses could and should follow. At no point is this a ‘tick box’ exercise. This is about striving to deliver a programme that creates a healthy and thriving workforce. It is amazing to be a part of such a comprehensive and meaningful strategy.

SUEZ also have a very strong commitment to the community and the environment, we have seen the powerful messages around reducing waste, recycling and reusing ‘stuff’ that will have a positive impact on the environment (and there is increasing evidence how these strategies that promote care for our living environment also help our mental health – things are connected!). That commitment to the mental health of our community was demonstrated by Tracey and the Board of SUEZ when they donated a sum of money so that we could deliver the FAfMH training to people not connected to SUEZ but to those living in our local area. They also provided a sum of money that would allow people to access personal psychotherapeutic counseling.

To these ends, Golden Tree CIC approached Maureen Hanley at the Link Charitable Trust, based in Redcar.?The link provides a range of support services to local people that includes mental health support. As part of this, for example, the Trust is helping young adults get to a position that they can access further education and employment.

?Through the generosity of SUEZ, we’ve been able to deliver mental health training to two groups of learners.?Due to their needs, we were able to take the course at a gentler pace and allow the discussions to ‘breathe’ and make the training relevant to them.?Without the contribution from SUEZ we would have found this more difficult to do.

?The courses have been incredibly well received with 100% attainment of the L1 Qualification.?With their kind permission, here’s a picture of some of the attendees.

Working with SUEZ has been, and continues to be an incredible, inspirational experience for us at Golden Tree CIC, we feel part of something that goes beyond a business and a business need. It stretches out into the wider population and connects with others in a profound way improving not just the mental wellbeing of individuals but accounts for the holistic health and wellbeing of individuals, their families and the connected communities in which we all live.

?So, Dr Tracey Leghorn, Natalie Chard, John Scanlon, Adam Read, the 700 plus attendees of the courses that we have delivered, the hundreds more that have taken the time to attend the webinars and all the staff at SUEZ UK we salute you and thank you!