Mental Health Awareness Week 2023
As an organisation, we’re proud to say that we focus on our employees’ mental health all year round and have dedicated mental health first aiders across our business to provide support to those needing it.
All of our mental health first aiders have been trained in conjunction with Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England – a social enterprise with a vision to improve the mental health of the nation.
To mark Mental Health Awareness Week 2023, Paul Healey, our Customer Service Executive, tells us about the moments when he needed support and reached out to our Mental Health First Aiders. Paul plays a big part in our Mental Health Awareness ERG (Employee Resource Group), and shares his story below:
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In 2020, I tried working from home for a few months. I was in a small flat, living alone and I came to the decision that I did not wish to continue to work from home due to feeling isolated. After submitting a request, I was fortunately given permission to work in the office every day.
In 2021, there was another variant of COVID discovered and the Government decisions forced everyone to work from home if they could. This made me very anxious about the prospect of trying to work from home again for any length of time, as I had already had mental health problems from when I worked from home in 2020.
I felt like I was unable to cope so I contacted the Mental Health First Aiders at People’s Partnership.
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The Mental Health First Aider that I reached out to took down details of what the issue was and then approached a Customer Service Manager for clarification. My question to the First Aider was: “If the individual was granted a permanent desk in the office as a key worker, would this mean that they now had to work from home because of the Government changes?”
One of our Customer Service Managers clarified that it was not meant as an order but only “if you can”. The manager assured the Mental Health First Aider that they were more than happy for me to continue to work in the office.
The Mental Health First Aider I spoke with was there to do what I could not, as I could not think straight. They obtained the clarification, whereas I thought it was mandatory. This alleviated the issue, and as a result, I did not require any time off sick due to mental health.?
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Thank you so much for sharing your story, Paul, and highlighting what an important role our Mental Health First Aiders play to our colleagues.