now in full roll out and are keen to reach the aspirations
of 100,000 persons in year one and 75% of the industry by
2025.
“My personal hope is that mental health and addressing
ill health becomes business as usual and the stigma that is
associated with ill health becomes a thing of the past.”
HOW IT WORKS
As an organisation, Mates in Mind believes that there is
no health without mental health.
Mates in Mind aims to:
• Raise awareness and understanding of mental
health and mental ill health.
• Help people understand how, when and where
to get support.
• Break the silence and stigma through promoting
cultures of positive wellbeing throughout the
industry.
Mates in Mind features a tiered training framework with
four key elements which together, build understanding,
knowledge and confidence amongst workers; thus offering
a holistic and joined up approach.
Guidance & Support
To support your organisation in creating the right
programme – offering guidance on specific worker issues to
creating a stress management policy through to connecting
the workforce to appropriate support at the right time.
Awareness & Education
To educate and inform your workforce – with
messages tailored to the workforce, to leaders and to
‘champions’ – helping everyone understand their roles and
responsibilities in terms of mental wellbeing.
Communication
To visibly support the framework throughout your
organisation – including relevant and accessible
communication materials – from hard hat stickers to van
stickers, posters, flyers and wallet cards etc.
Research & Development
To help build an evidence base – Mates in Mind are
developing a research programme that will help the
industry understand the nature and impact of mental
health, and ensure development of effective and robust
solutions.
Mates in Mind has been designed to be flexible,
joined up and easily used to suit the needs of individual
organisations and their business priorities.
The construction sector has a track record of taking what
appear to be hard-to-crack issues, working in partnership
to find pan-industry solutions to remedy them. Mates in
Mind works with leading organisations and charities such
as Mind, Samaritans, Mental Health First Aid England,
British Safety Council, Lighthouse Club, Remploy and the
National Counselling Society.
Mates in Mind provides an innovative and collaborative
approach that helps construction companies nurture
positive mental wellbeing amongst their workforce. Key
to its success is breaking the silence and stigma that can
surround mental health, in a wider society and especially in
the construction industry.
For more information on Mates in Mind, go to www.matesinmind.org
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