A Midlands-wide campaign helping improve support for mental health in the workplace has seen more than 800 employers taking the first steps to make positive improvements in their organisations.
The Mental Health and Productivity Pilot (MHPP) led by Coventry University, launched its Bridge the Gap, Start a Chat campaign in August to reduce stigma around talking about mental health at work and to help employers start their own mental health campaigns in their workplaces boost staff mental health and ultimately improve productivity.
Since the launch, 823 businesses and organisations across a range of sectors have downloaded the free employer resource pack that guides them through the first steps in implementing their own mental health campaign in their organisations.
In addition, almost 600 employers have signed up to free workplace mental health initiatives such as West Midlands Combined Authority’s ‘Thrive at Work’ programme, or Mind’s ‘Mental Health at Work Commitment’.
And the campaign has reached more than 3 million people online since it launched.
This success comes ahead of World Mental Health Day on Sunday, October 10 – which highlights the importance of mental health and reducing stigma on a global scale.
One organisation that got involved with the Start a Chat campaign was disability support charity United Response, with offices in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
Laura Hughes, Senior Service Manager at United Response, was particularly impressed with MHPP’s earlier online showcase, which gave attendees lots of insight into the campaign and other ways organisations can improve workplace mental health.
She added: “MHPP has a wealth of resources – I am going to be discussing the ‘Every Mind Matters’ app and the ‘This Is Me’ initiative with managers to look at how we roll these out.
“The resources and support available to us through MHPP will greatly enhance the support we already offer to employees and support our teams to start conversations about our own mental health, further bridging the gap with the people we employ.”
Caroline Geraghty, MHPP Project Manager at Coventry University, added: “We launched our Bridge the Gap, Start a Chat campaign to encourage Midlands business to start conversations around mental health at work, to help reduce stigma and to show employers that there are simple steps they can take to support their staff.
“It’s absolutely fantastic that we’ve seen so many organisations take those initial steps to improving workplace mental health. Our free employer resource pack is full of great advice for those looking to get started.
“Of course, we’d love for more employers across all sectors to do the same, and with World Mental Health Day so close, now is a great time for them to download our resource pack and take the first steps to supporting mental health at work.”
MHPP is funded by Midlands Engine and is led by Coventry University in partnership with the University of Warwick, the West Midlands Combined Authority, mental health charity Mind and the universities of Birmingham, Derby, Lincoln, Loughborough and Nottingham.
To find out more about the #StartaChat campaign and download the employer resource pack, visit https://mhpp.me/startachat/how-to-have-a-conversation-about-mental-health/
Midlands employers who would like to know more about the free support available from MHPP can request an online meeting with their regional MHPP contact at https://mhpp.me/contact/