Health and wellbeing

Mental Health First Aid

In 2019 we provided accredited training via St John’s Ambulance and Mental Health England for volunteer Mental Health First Aiders across the organisation.

We know that wellbeing is good for business and that healthy people are happier, more engaged and more productive.

Providing practical mental health skills and awareness training is key to creating a safe healthy workplace where the mental health and physical health of employees are valued equally.

Our mental health first aiders have been equipped with an in-depth understanding of mental health and factors that can affect wellbeing, including skills to enable them to spot triggers and signs of mental health issues.

They have the knowledge to help someone recover by guiding them to further support, whether self-help resources, internal support such as our Employee Assistance Programme, or external sources such as GPs and other recognised organisations.

Employee Assistance Programme

We recognise that it can be difficult to balance the pressures of work with the needs of people’s home life, be they emotional, physical or financial.

Our employee assistance programme provides 24/7 support and guidance including:

• Face-to-face counselling sessions without any medical or company referral

• 24/7 confidential helpline

• Bereavement support

• Financial wellbeing support

• Legal information

• Online support

Medical Cash Plan

We offer all employees a fully funded cash plan so employees can simply claim back the costs of dental check-ups, fillings, eye tests, physiotherapy, scans, prescriptions and much more. This benefit has supported many employees to reduce NHS waiting times and to save costs during the last few years when medical interventions have been particularly challenging.

92%

22 fully qualified mental health first aiders across our organisation

In addition, 92% of our managers and leaders have attended Mental Health First Aid Champion training. This helps them spot signs and symptoms of common mental health issues, provide non-judgemental support and reassurance and guide employees to seek the professional support they may need to recover.