Mental Health Awareness Week took place in the UK this week, from 10-16 May. Inspired by this annual event, Frazer-Nash took the opportunity to engage in conversations with its employees about all aspects of mental health.
This year’s theme for Mental Health Awareness Week centred around nature and the environment, with outdoor activities shown to improve both mental and physical wellbeing. Staff shared anecdotes and photos of socially distanced meet ups; taking advantage of the opportunity to explore the great outdoors as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.
Feedback to the initiatives shared across the week was overwhelmingly positive, with people sharing their own mental health experiences. One member of staff commented:
“It really stopped me in my tracks and made me think about mental health in a way that I haven’t necessarily done before. That insight into what another person may have felt at a certain low or confusing point in their lives was truly eye-opening, and I’m so glad that the stories were shared to shine light to the subject. Mental health is such a vast topic to tackle, and I think there’s still a way to go to reduce the stigma of opening up about mental health issues – and that’s why it’s so important that as a company, we acknowledge these events and encourage the conversations to happen.”
The coordinated agenda of events and communications delivered across Frazer-Nash's internal platforms included articles and easily accessible resources to provide support and information on mental health concerns, plus a 60-minute mental health webinar hosted by external wellbeing providers, Luminate.
The week also saw the announcement that all UK Frazer-Nash employees now have access to the Digicare+ Workplace app, through the company’s partnership with Aviva, as part of its ongoing support to its people.
This service, which works alongside the UK Employee Assistance programme, is a health and wellbeing support app that delivers guidance and care to help detect, manage, and prevent physical and mental health concerns.
In 2020, Frazer-Nash signed the Time to Change pledge, signifying its work towards becoming a Time to Change Employer. The work the company has been doing to support its employees’ mental health and wellbeing is a long term commitment for the future.
HR Business Partner and Wellbeing Champion, Val Hardie, added:
“I am so proud of how far we have come on our mental health journey; we became a Time to Change Employer 12 months ago and, in that time, we have truly been committed to changing the way we think and act around mental health and mental health issues, from Board level all the way through our organisation we have been supporting and engaging in discussions around mental health. The conversations and stories that have been told this week by our people for our people as we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week have been truly inspiring, and really shows that we are living our value of “we care” and building a business where all our people feel they belong.”
