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Funeral Partners champion mental health
Funeral Partners prioritises mental health support as Covid-19 restrictions ease
It’s important for those in the funeral profession to always have access to quality mental health care, especially after the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as support the wellbeing of those in their local communities.
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Funeral Partners funeral homes have therefore been busy offering virtual mental health training to local nursing home staff in Northern Ireland, in addition to themselves applying for the opportunity to become a Mental Health Champion across the Funeral Partners business to support and help their colleagues.
Championing mental health in the funeral home
Mental health awareness has been a core focus of Funeral Partners since its foundation. In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, the network has innovated by launching a new internal role to help its employees through unprecedented times.
Any Funeral Partners employee can now apply to become a Mental Health Champion and help colleagues struggling with their mental wellbeing, be Carolyn McCauley, Funeral it through a conversation or Arranger and newly-appointed referral to specialist help. Mental Health Champion at John
Carolyn McCauley, Funeral Gray & Co. Funeral Directors. Arranger at John Gray & Co Funeral Directors, Bangor, was pleased to be accepted into the new programme and given the opportunity to challenge the stigma around mental health. She said: “We all have a trained first aider nearby in case of physical injury to our bodies, so it makes sense to also have a first aider for our minds.
“Being able to provide an early intervention for someone who may be developing mental health issues is invaluable, and a responsibility I’m proud to have.” Carolyn was one of 16 applicants who underwent two days of training over Zoom by Mental Health First Aid England (MHFA), where she learned how to support people with depression, anxiety, self-harm, psychosis, PTSD and suicidal thoughts. She said: “I found the training to be both fascinating and enlightening. As all of us have a common interest in supporting the wellbeing of our colleagues, we bonded well and were able to share our own thoughts, feelings and fears without judgment.”
Carolyn looks forward to opening up the conversation around mental health in her workplace and is pleased to hear Funeral Partners is already launching a second intake for Mental Health Champions. She concluded: “The value of knowing you have helped make a difference to someone’s life is too great to be measured. “
Virtual mental health training for nursing homes
Michelle McMaster is a qualified trauma therapist, social worker and mental health trainer who has worked in the funeral industry for over 20 years, helping the care sector and funeral homes to look after their teams’ mental health through one-to-one and group sessions.
Social distancing restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak meant that Michelle and the Northern Ireland Funeral Partners funeral homes had to think creatively to continue offering support to those that need it most in their communities.
Michelle McMaster producing a mental health webinar on her computer.
She said: “We began hosting online seminars through video calls. However, it became apparent that nursing home staff had limited time to attend given the increasing demands they faced at work.”
Michelle worked closely with Julian Hodgkinson, Regional Development Director of Funeral Partners in Northern Ireland, and Beverley Brown, Marketing Manager, to come up with a solution that all Funeral Partners funeral homes in the country could offer their local nursing homes. The result has been mental health webinars, which will be recorded and uploaded by Beverley to the funeral homes’ websites so nursing and care staff can learn about a range of topics in their own time.
Michelle explained: “Funeral directors from James Brown & Sons in Belfast to Adair & Neeley in Londonderry can now show these videos to their local nursing and residential homes so they can receive the support they need at their own pace.”
“So far we’ve recorded three webinars, including one about physiological exercises to help release stress in fun and practical ways, and plan on recording more over the coming months.”
Funeral Partners looking to expand in Northern Ireland – you will be in safe hands
Funeral Partners has invested a considerable amount of time and effort into reviewing the latest order by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), developing an implementation plan across its family businesses to ensure they are fully compliant when the changes come in September.
There has therefore never been a better time to take advantage of an established, proven network and let it shoulder some of the burden, allowing you to receive support with necessary yet time-consuming administrative duties and focus on the day-to-day running of the business while serving families with care. Funeral Partners is interested in further
expansion in Northern Ireland and would be happy to have an informal and confidential chat with any Funeral Directors who are considering selling their businesses. Contact Chief Executive Officer Sam Kershaw, directly on 07834 531822 or email: sam.kershaw@
funeralpartners.co.uk or Acquisition & Mergers Director Steve Wilkinson on 07528 970 531 or email: steve.wilkinson@
funeralpartners.co.uk
