Mental illnesses affect 19% of the adult population, 46% of teenagers and 13% of children each year. As we’re sure you will already be aware the general perception of mental health has improved over the past decade but there is still a lot of work to be done to break down the stereotypes surrounding mental illness and improve everyone’s education and knowledge of this vitally important subject.
Mental health, like physical health, is not always fixed and can fluctuate throughout our lives. There are many factors that can affect someone’s mental health; whether it’s home life, relationships, physical health, work life or general emotions.
At Mellors Catering Services we understand that as an employer we need to try our hardest to break the mental health stigma by offering as much support as possible to our employees. To do this, we need to be confident our management team are trained and educated on mental health and know how to recognise the signs of a mental illness.
We’re proud to announce that on 6th February 2020, 37 of our management team attended a Mental Health Awareness training course at the Best Western Lancashire Manor Hotel. The training, provided by UK Healthcare, was focused on mental health conditions, wellbeing and how to create a positive working atmosphere for employees. The management team learned what wellbeing is and how finding the right balance is imperative to keeping a healthy mindset. They explored how a sufferer may feel when struggling with their mental health and how impactful workplace stress can be on someone’s mindset. The training included a presentation, exercises, identifying our own stresses and how to overcome them. The management team also picked up helpful resources to share with our teams. The training was rounded up with the management team understanding how important it is to start a conversation around mental health and being aware of those around them.
Since the training day we have received lots of positive feedback from the team who really appreciated the training and feel confident to help support their teams to make sure there is a positive atmosphere across the business.
As well as this training for our management team, our Mental Health First Aiders within our HR team are on hand through the Mellors absence hotline to help staff who are struggling with their mental health.
