Championing positive mental health at work across Leeds and West Yorkshire
Leeds Mindful Employer Network
Championing mental health at work
across Leeds and West Yorkshire
3rd May 2022
Dear network Members,
Welcome to our May newsletter.
This month we are bringing you a wealth of information and resources as well as two employer blogs and an invitation to join our brand new Facebook group for network Members.
We can't wait to see some of you at our event on 11th May. If you haven't yet booked your place, please join us to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week and hear from some of the wonderful local employers featuring in our newly updated Ten Steps Toolkit.
Please do continue to share with us anything that might be of use to fellow network members. And as always, we really welcome your feedback, ideas and suggestions on how we can improve what we do - we'd love to hear from you.
The Mindful Employer Network is free to join for all local employers and their staff across Leeds and West Yorkshire. This month we are extending a warm welcome to new network members from the following businesses and organisations:
Bartlett
LeafieldJD
Matrix SCM
Protocol
Sugarhouse Properties
Thebigword
Yorkshire Sport Foundation
As always it's fantastic to see the wide range of local employers represented within our network. If you know someone who would benefit from being involved please do forward them this bulletin - they can sign up here.
Have you signed the Mindful Employer Charter?
We encourage all our network members to consider signing the Mindful Employer Charter. This is a great way to demonstrate your organisation's commitment to better mental health. Being a Mindful Employer brings many benefits including access to an affordable 24 hour staff support line MINDFUL EMPLOYER Plus for only £1 per staff member per year.
Please get in touch if you have any further questions about the Mindful Employer Network or Mindful Employer Charter.
Looking for some help getting started on your Mindful Employer journey?
Our Ten Steps Toolkit is a fantastic place to start - full of helpful tips, useful links and local case studies.
"Such a good resource! Can't wait to get stuck in and make some real changes for my team!"
Please get in touch if you'd like us to deliver a free in-house workshop for your team.
Join our new Facebook Group!
We have created a brand new Facebook group for you, our Leeds Mindful Employer Network members.
We hope this will be a vital go-to resource: a portal for information, latest guidance and inspiring blogs, as well as a way to connect with peers, share your tips and learn from each other's experiences.
Employer Blog: workplace wellbeing at Leeds Marriott Hotel
"We know that being a good employer is the best thing we can do for business"
We caught up with Jayne Uren, Human Resources Manager at Leeds Marriott Hotelto learn about her approach to staff wellbeing and why it's something every business should prioritise.
"It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it"
Geraldine Montgomerie, Partnerships and Engagement Manager at the Swan Song Project has kindly shared her reflections on her approach to developing staff wellbeing.
This year's theme of Mental Health Awareness Week is loneliness.
Read about why loneliness has been chosen as this year's theme here.
Loneliness can significantly increase our risk of developing a wide range of mental and physical health conditions. We are all likely to experience it at certain points in our lives.
Workplaces can be great places to explore experiences of loneliness, tackle the stigma surrounding it and introduce initiatives to combat it.
This Mental Health Awareness Week is a perfect opportunity to discuss loneliness with our colleagues and within our teams.
You can get involved by sharing your activities and discussions on social media using #IveBeenThere and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
Without the resources often taken for-granted within larger companies, small businesses can face unique challenges when thinking about staff wellbeing. However they can also be some of the most positive, nurturing and supportive places to work.
In March we published an article in South Leeds Life specifically highlighting the benefits of Leeds Mindful Employer Network to small local businesses. You can read the article here.
We are pleased to follow this up with some fantastic wellbeing tips for small businesses shared by local business owner and Mindful Employer, Lou Henry from independent coffee shop, Opposite Cafe.
Meet our colleagues at Leeds Mind's WorkPlace Leeds
What is Workplace Leeds?
WorkPlace Leeds is a service within Leeds Mind which offers both IPS Employment support and Job Retention support:
Our IPS Employment Service supports individuals who have been facing challenges with their mental health to find and retain work which will be positive for their wellbeing.
Our Job Retention Service supports individuals who are currently in work and are facing challenges with their mental health whilst in work.
What can we offer you as a local employer?
Our wonderful team of mental health employment specialists can provide you with:
Guidance around making recruitment practices more inclusive & supporting employees in the workplace
Free recruitment service
Detailed insight into our clients, their skills and experience & the barriers they face
In-work support for the candidate and the employer
How could you support us?
We understand that you may not be able to offer one of our service users a job opportunity right now. However there are many other ways you may be able to support us and our clients such as:
Providing work trials & interviews
CV advice and feedback
Mock interviews for our service users
Application guidance specific to your organisation
Delivering a one-off talk about your sector of work, specific role or your organisation
Acting as a sector/ role specific mentor for one of our service users
If you'd like know more about any of these options we'd love to chat with you.
Dying Matters Awareness Week is an opportunity for communities across the UK to come together to talk about death, dying and bereavement. There are lots of local events that can be promoted in your workplace, as well as engaging in discussions and activities with colleagues
"We know that being a good employer is the best thing we can do for business"
We are pleased to follow this up with some fantastic wellbeing tips for small businesses shared by local business owner and 
