News Feature
S
tress Matters Support Line is seeing
up to 15 people contacting them
daily as the Covid-19 crisis takes its
toll on the exhibition industry. Laura
Capell-Abra, who also runs wellbeing
company Stress Matters, set up the
line because she knew the crisis would
affect people in the event industry in
different ways.
She said: “Everyone in our industry
is being impacted and this is causing
a high level of anxiety. We are seeing
a large increase in the numbers of
people applying to be a ‘Buddy’ on our
Buddies Matter programme (our free
peer-to-peer matching service), but we
were also conscious that there are lots
of people who will need more qualified
mental health support.
“We have worked around the clock
to set up the Stress Matters Support
Line so that everyone now has free and
easy access to trained Mental Health
First Aiders (MHFA). At the moment
the Support Line is manned by MHFA
volunteers, but we are appealing to
the industry for funding to enable
us to extend this crucial service to a
24/7 helpline accessible through all
communication methods.”
The helpline is supported by four
people: Laura Capell-Abra and her
husband James; Laila Datoo, founder,
A Life More Mindful; and new Stress
Matters recruit Andreas Georgiou.
Helping
Hand
EN speaks to Stress Matters
founder Laura Capell-Abra about
her new free helpline to support
vulnerable people across the
industry affected by the impact
of Covid-19
Capell-Abra explained that if the
company can find additional funding,
they want to make the service 24 hour,
and take on more volunteers from
across the industry. Since setting up
the service at the beginning of April,
the company has handled scores of
connections either by phone, SMS or
Whatsapp.
Capell-Abra added: “Some of the
stories we hear are heart-breaking.
Junior team members who are just
starting out in their events career, who
have been working solely on an event
that has now been cancelled so have yet
to experience the buzz of putting an
event on and seeing it come to life.
“One company owner was devastated
that he was having to make half his
company redundant as he knew that
even with furlough, the business
wouldn’t be there quickly enough after
to keep them on. He was feeling like
he had let the team down and was
questioning whether he was fit to run
the business if he was feeling so guilty.
Not only was he feeling the pressure
of his business responsibilities, but
he wasn’t taking a salary and it is
impacting his family life.
“We also hear from people who are
really struggling being on their own
during isolation. Events is full of a lot
of sociable and extroverted people and
one woman was finding it hard to get
that energy from Zoom calls and was
feeling incredibly low. We also had an
HR manager call asking for advice on
how to support the team in practical
ways.”
Capell-Abra went on to say that even
without the pandemic, the industry is
susceptible to high levels of stress. She
explains: “I did a stress management
workshop at a conference recently, and
a couple of men hung back after to talk
to us. One was telling us how a team
member had disclosed that week that
he had depression, and the other man
told us how a member of his team had
killed himself.
“The fact that they felt like they could
share their stories was so reassuring
and a clear indicator that we are making
progress in this industry in terms of
openness around mental health.”
The company also operates a Buddies
Matter programme which pairs up
people from across the industry -
including some staff at EN parent
company Mash Media.
The Stress Matters Support Line
is open from 8am to 8pm and can be
accessed by texting 07481 362111 and
a trained MHFA will respond and call
back.
Anyone wanting to talk to Laura directly
about financial support, please email her
at [email protected]
14 — May