Barratt Health & Wellbeing Month: Week 2 - Mental Health We all have mental health just like we all have physical health. When we talk about mental health, we’re talking about our mental wellbeing: our emotions, our thoughts and feelings, our ability to solve problems and overcome difficulties, our social connections, and our understanding of the world around us. Did you know that... 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health issue at some point in our lifetime 90% of workers have been touched by mental health challenges either personally or through someone they are close to On average 2.9 construction workers take their own life every working day
Mental Health First Aiders As part of our ongoing commitment to assist our colleagues with their mental health, we have a growing network of qualified Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) throughout the business. Their role is to support individuals, help to make their life at work easier, listen non-judgmentally, offer and encourage support, signpost people to professional help and to assist in a crisis. If you are concerned about yours or another employees mental health then please contact any of the MHFA, you can find their details via the link below, to discuss your concerns, we are here to help and assist you confidentially. Click here to view a short video on the role of our MHFA and find out who your local MHFA is.
Health & Wellbeing Champions We also have accredited Mental Health Awareness trained health and wellbeing champions across most of our divisions. The role of the champion is to provide initial confidential guidance and signposting for help available to colleagues.
There are many different types of support, and the champions can help direct employees to access the most appropriate professional help and support. In this role the champions help the Company to raise awareness of mental health and reduce the stigma, through acting as a communication and engagement channel into the division of all of the support, initiatives and help available. We know that sometimes it can be difficult to manage the pressures of life, or you may just want to speak to someone to get advice or support on an everyday issue. Whatever the need, there is professional, confidential support and help available to you. Click here for more information. In October we will be launching our NEW Barratt Health & Wellbeing support concertina cards. These wallet-sized cards will include contact information for a range of professional support services.
Parenting Mental Health We have recently started to partner with Parenting Mental Health which is a peer community and UK registered charity, which helps parents supporting young people with mental health issues. The charity offers a safe, judgement free space for over 25,000 parents to understand and explore the experience of parenting a child with a mental health issue and equip them with the skills, knowledge and confidence to become the best supporter, advocate and partner to their child. Email info@parentingmentalhealth.com for further information.
Webinars Managing our own stress and mental health: Thursday 14 October at 10.00am The session will look at understanding and managing our own stress and mental health and how change impacts this, stigma and inequality and what this looks like and how it can impact our mental health. The session will be interactive and will provide information, tools and tips to support you in maintaining good mental wellbeing. Click here to register. Once you are approved by the host, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the session. The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity also offer a range of free health and wellbeing masterclasses on topics such as: Coping with stress, building resilience, Self-care and Balancing Life & Work, click here to register. Vitality webinars Each month, our wellbeing partner Vitality host a series of workshops, webinars and interviews which are hosted on their GoToWebinar platform. In addition they hold weekly mindfulness sessions, workouts, yoga and Pilates sessions which are uploaded to the Vitality YouTube channel every Monday, Wednesday and Friday respectively. Click here for more information.
National Work Life Week takes place from 11 – 15 October 2021 This year we are recognising National Work Life Week which is Working Families’ annual campaign to get both employers and employees talking about wellbeing at work and the work-life balance. What have we done at Barratt to support work-life balance? Barratt has introduced a hybrid working policy for colleagues We've also produced a NEW hybrid working support guide to support colleagues in this new way of working Launched a NEW flexible working policy Offer a range of enhanced family friendly policies Provide paid Assisted Fertility Leave and Carers leave as part of our Special Leave Policy *View full policy details for further information and any eligibility criteria.
Staying connected is good for our mental health... We are aware that for many of us, there are ongoing challenges with life as we continue to navigate COVID-19 and our working lives. To help, we are inviting you to connect with others (via Teams), who might be in similar circumstances. This would be an opportunity to share experiences and ideas, offer words of encouragement or simply gain some support through the reassurance that you are not alone. We recognise that people are in different circumstances, but some of those circumstances may have more common challenges. We are holding virtual drop in sessions for two of our employee networks, Connect Parents and Connect Barratt. The monthly sessions will be a run as an informal virtual drop session at lunchtime via Teams, with some initial facilitation but no set or rigid agenda.
If you would like more information or to be invited to the drop in session, please email Jo Clay and Becky Nicholls and state which session you would be interested in. Email jo.clay@barrattplc.co.uk and becky.nicholls@barrattplc.co.uk to join a session.
Volunteers leave Research shows that volunteering has a positive effect on mental health in terms of managing depression, and enhancing life satisfaction and wellbeing. There is also some evidence it can have benefits for physical health too. Did you know the company will give you one day’s paid leave a year, to volunteer for charity? Volunteering can help you to discover new talents, engage with the community, and even develop your leadership skills. Click here to view the Special Leave policy.
Next week... We look at financial wellbeing and the help and support available to Barratt colleagues.
Help and support
For information, tools and links on many areas of health and wellbeing please click here to visit our My Barratt Benefits website