Tomorrow is World Suicide Prevention Day, where organisations and communities around the world come together to raise awareness of how we can create a world where fewer people die from suicide. This year’s theme is Working Together to Prevent Suicide.
The International Association for Suicide Prevention has created a ‘step closer’ video for World Suicide Prevention Day to empower everyone towards collective action with the message that, through working together, we can all prevent suicide - every step closer can connect someone to life.
Suicide is a topic most of us feel uncomfortable talking about, but looking at the figures, it’s definitely something we need to encourage more open conversation on. The Samaritan’s latest facts and figures on suicide show that in the UK in 2018, there were 6,507 suicides – a rise of 10.9%. For every suicide, an estimated 25 people make a suicide attempt and many more have serious thoughts of suicide. You can get a deeper understanding of these statistics by watching this video.
Covid19 has impacted us all – our connections are now more important than ever as levels of isolation, distress and anxiety may increase. The need for physical distancing should not impact our connections which are vital in ensuring our mental health and wellbeing.
GC is committed to not only supporting your health and wellbeing, especially during these uncertain times, but also in creating an environment which encourages open conversation about your mental health.
Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), provided by Health Assured, is available to you and your immediate family 24/7 by calling the free confidential helpline 0800 030 5182 or visiting the online portal (Username: Growth, Password: Company). During working hours, you can also access support from our Mental Health First Aiders.
As part of our commitment, we have recently made the Time to Change pledge, a campaign to change the way people think, talk and act about mental health problems. To support our pledge we are training Mental Health Champions who will form the working group to process our Time to Change action plan.
What is the difference between our Mental Health First Aiders and our Mental Health Champions?
If you are interested in becoming a MHFA, a Mental Health Champion or would like to get involved in the Time to Change working group please contact Cheryl Madden.
To support World Suicide Prevention Day and our pledge, we want you to start - if you don’t already - asking twice. Especially if you have noticed somebody acting differently. Sometimes when we are asked if we are okay our automatic default answer is ‘I’m fine’ without really thinking about it, even when we’re not. By asking your friends, family and colleagues a second time, it encourages them to truly reflect on how they are feeling.
We are also keen to find out how much you currently talk about your mental health and wellbeing with your colleagues and within your team. Is there an exercise you do in your team meeting to talk about how are you feeling and check in with your health and wellbeing? Please let us know, so that we can share this with the Group as they may find it useful to do within their team. We have also included some questions on wellbeing in our recent equality, diversity and inclusion survey which closes on Friday 18 September. If you haven’t completed it yet, please spare five minutes to share your thoughts.
So, with all that in mind, are you okay? No really, are you okay?
Vicky Barton,
Director of HR and Organisational Development.