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
March 2022 Newsletter
Dear Network Members, Welcome to our March newsletter.
Firstly thank you to everyone who has already completed our member survey. If you haven't yet shared your feedback please don't forget to contribute, we really want to hear from you.
This month we encourage you to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th and My Whole Self Day on March 18th. Read on for more information and ideas for what you can do in your workplace.
We also have a whole host of further features for you. Our full contents include:
Welcome to new network members
and new Mindful Employers
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:
Care and Repair Leeds
Get Out More CiC
Harrogate Borough Council
Roller Girl Gang
Wellspring Therapy and Training
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
Women's Health Matters
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.
International Women's Day - Tuesday 8th March
International Women's Day is an important opportunity to celebrate women's achievements, increase visibility and call out inequality.
Women and mental health
Around one in five (19 %) women experience a common mental health problem, such as anxiety or depression. More than one in two women with a mental health problem has experienced some form of violence and abuse. Read more about women's mental health via the link below: Mental Health Foundation - Women and Mental Health
Women and inequality at work
Despite progress being made, women continue to face harassment and discrimination at work, with the gender pay gap remaining stubbornly high. Read more about women's inequality at work via the links below:
Women Friendly Leeds conducted a survey in May 2020 to look at any disproportionate effects on the COVID-19 pandemic on women, and found that the no.1 concern for women was employability.
In response to this finding, Women Friendly Leeds are partnering with Smartworks to design an initiative that offers employers the opportunity to become a Women Friendly Recruiter. Click the button below to read more and share your thoughts.
My Whole Self is a workplace wellbeing campaign led by Mental Health First Aid England. It encourages workplaces to develop an open and inclusive culture where everyone feels comfortable to 'bring their whole selves to work'. The campaign highlights the links between inclusion, diversity and wellbeing - you can't have one without the others.
Click the button below to read more and access free resources for your workplace.
Alongside your workplace mental health and wellbeing strategy you may wish to create a separate strategy around preventing suicide. This may be particularly relevant if your industry has high rates of suicide or attracts a workforce at higher risk of suicide.