Access All Areas June 2020 | Page 6

Government implored to increase mental health first aiders This month’s catch up… Read more and keep up to date by visiting: Globe-Af accessaa.co.uk � @access_aa twitter- @access_aa Ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week, which ran from 18-24 May, event industry association HBAA called on the government to support a 1:50 ratio of Mental Health First Aiders to staff across all industries. Fear and anxiety about job security, concern for a safe working environment, increased workloads and financial burdens are some pressures likely to effect mental wellbeing before and during the Covid-19 recovery period for businesses. HBAA is working with the Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP) to request for funding towards the initiative. They have also placed the issue on the government’s agenda via the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS). The initiative forms part of the HBAA’s ongoing mental health campaign, alongside a series of webinars discussing mental health and other topics to help members during the pandemic. Football returns to Germany…with cardboard cutouts Germany’s top flight football league, the Bundesliga, returned to action on Saturday 16 May. Bundesliga team Borussia Monchengladbach placed 12,000 cardboard cut-outs of fans in the seats of its home ground Borussia Park, to provide the illusion of fan engagement. The Bundesliga became the first major European football league to make a cautious return to play in light of the global coronavirus pandemic. One pre-requisite of the return was the playing of matches behind closed doors, with no more than 213 people in a stadium, including players and staff. The cutouts come from a fan campaign called “Stay at home. Be in the stands.” Borussia fans paid €19.00 to install a cardboard version of themselves in the stadium stands, with all proceeds raised going to local charities. Serbian Prime Minister un-cancels EXIT festival Ana Brnabic, the Prime Minister of Serbia, has asked the organisers of the country’s EXIT festival to un-cancel the event. EXIT Festival was cancelled in May, but will now be going ahead as planned in August 2020 after intervention by the Prime Minister. Brbanic said that, due to drastic improvements in Serbia’s health situation, she and a team of experts in a National Crisis Team are advising the go-ahead. “We recommend to move the festival to August because we expect that the situation (with the pandemic) in the whole of Europe will be totally under control by then,” said Brbanic. EXIT founder Dušan Kovačević commented: “The festival in its full format, with 55,000 per day and 40 stages, will probably not return until 2021. However, are delighted to hear that we’ll be able to mark the 20th anniversary of EXIT this summer with meaningful and safe event.” 06