10 October is World Mental Health Day 2024.
This year’s theme is workplace mental health. If we prioritise our mental health in the workplace, it will contribute to healthier people, organisations, and communities.
The Ann Craft Trust Wellbeing in the Workplace Policy and Guidance
As part of World Mental Health Day, we are launching our new policy and guidance.
- The Ann Craft Trust Health and Wellbeing Policy. Outlines the way in which we aim to build and maintain a workplace culture that supports the health and wellbeing of individuals within the workplace.
- Agile Working and Right to Disconnect Guidance. An example of how our values work in practice: being honest, professional, inclusive and compassionate helps us to look after our own and our colleagues’ wellbeing.
We have been developing these since spring 2024. From the start, all staff members have been involved in shaping the policy, from initial surveys to the final drafts.
This summer, we invited Boccia England to our team development day. Boccia England had launched a wellbeing toolkit in 2023, and they had a lot to tell us about the importance of teamwork and collaboration.
Next, we invited Andrew Lewin to our autumn development day. Andrew runs workshops on resilience, and on building positive habits to work towards healthier, and more sustainable, high performance.
But while these policies are the result of a long development process, we see them as a start of a journey, rather than the destination. Like safeguarding, working towards wellbeing in the workplace is an ongoing process. Our policy and guidance documents simply highlight our shared commitment to looking out for ourselves, and each other, for the long-term.
Feeling Empowered is Key to Success
Lisa Curtis, Ann Craft Trust Deputy CEO and Head of Safeguarding Adults, said:
“Supporting healthy work practices to promote wellbeing is an important part of our daily activities at the Ann Craft Trust. We believe that feeling empowered is key to success. Self-care is an essential part of this, along with maintaining regular conversations with each other, and with our managers.
“We have revisited our roles and responsibilities to understand employer and employee responsibilities, along with our internal support mechanisms. We are also seeking to understand the pressure we put on ourselves, and how this might detract from a healthy work/life balance.
“As a team we have developed some wellbeing initiatives to help us achieve a more ‘agile’ way of working. These include training around resilience, and committing to small changes to improve our wellbeing on a day-to-day basis. For example, members of the team are taking short walks as part of their breaks, and we’re chatting with a coffee instead of sitting at our computers during lunch.
“We’ve also been reflecting on the things that make us happy and improve our emotional wellbeing. In doing so, we discovered that many of the most effective self-care options are free! Spending time outside, reading a book, slightly changing our work patterns, and above all, looking out for each other. It’s all achievable.”
How Can You Support World Mental Health Day?
You’ll find many resources on our site to help you look after yourself, and your colleagues:
- Why Wellbeing Matters in Safeguarding. Guidance from Safeguarding Adults Manager Roisin Tear containing tips for both individuals and organisations on how we can make self-care an integral part of our work.
- Self-Care Empowers You to Safeguard Others. We focused on wellbeing throughout Safeguarding Adults Week 2023. Take a look at the resources we developed, and at some of the activity that took place across the country throughout the week.
- Safeguarding Your Mental Health at Work. An overview of why self-care matters for those who work in safeguarding roles, along with some essential tips for looking after yourself and others.
- Self-Care While Working From Home. Some tips on how you can take care of yourself when you are working remotely, without access to peer support.
You can also take a look at the official World Mental Health Day site, which features many ideas for getting involved. There are also posters and images to download, including the purple graphic at the top of this post.