Supporting World Mental Health Day 2022
Here at MVIS and Bartco UK, we take mental health very seriously. As a socially responsible employer, we feel it is important to focus on mental health every day and not just today. Working in an industry that suffers from high suicide rates, it is of vital importance that we stay one step ahead when it comes to mental health.
In the UK, suicide claims an alarming number of lives each year, with many of those in the Highways and Construction industries. As safety is one of the core foundations at MVIS in addition to mental health, there is no denying the obligation we have in raising awareness of this to help make the industry safer for everyone.
Last year for World Mental Health Day, we supported YoungMinds, the mental health charity for young people and participated in their #HellowYellow campaign by donating money and wearing a hi-vis or yellow clothing.
In support of World Mental Health Day this year, we got all our staff together for some cake and a chat to help encourage the conversation around mental health. The theme for this year is to make mental health and wellbeing a priority, which is something that we have been working to achieve for many years now.
Over the years, we have taken a number of steps to safeguard the wellbeing and mental health of our team. One of the things we’ve done to support our team is giving them access to 3 qualified mental health first aiders, 2 female and 1 male. Our mental health first aiders are Rebecca Prince, Bartco UK’s Purchasing & Stock Control Supervisor, Jon Larkins, our North Delivery Supervisor and the UK Group Commercial and Operations Director for both MVIS and Bartco UK, Anne Ashman.
One of our more recent developments is providing our team with access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), an anonymous advice and support service offered by Peninsula. If you feel that you may need advice or support on your mental health, some helpful links will be included below.
Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director comments, “The mental health of our team is one of our top priorities and today was a great opportunity for them to have a break and spend some time together. Here at MVIS and Bartco UK, we have been working with our staff for a long time now on ways we can best safeguard their mental health and wellbeing, which has helped us build the support system we have in place today.”
Get help and support:
- Samaritans Support Helpline – Call 116 123
- Shout Crisis Text Line – Text Shout to 85258
- Rethink Mental Illness – Call Rethink on 0300 5000 927
- Mind Infoline – Call the Mind infoline on 0300 123 3393
- Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) Helpline – 0800 58 58 58