31.05.2023
Keltie recently held its first Keltie House Rules (KHR) session on mental health awareness in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week which took place between 15th and 21st May.
Thank you
KHR is a new initiative at Keltie. It is intended to foster open and honest conversation on topics key to our people’s wellbeing. Where better to start than with mental health?
It was with some trepidation that I sat waiting to see who would join me in the room at our head office and who would join the conference call that I’d just started. I didn’t have to wait long, as the numbers on the call crept up and seats were filled in the room. But how do you start a conversation about mental health? Who will speak first when, after all, mental health has been a taboo subject for so many years? Well, me it turns out.
I’d prepared a few things to say on the sorts of mental health challenges that people face in their day-to-day lives such as stress, anxiety, depression (the list goes on), and grappled with my worries over whether to mention the difficult subject of suicide. I’ve subsequently read an article entitled The Case Against Saying 'Suicide Is a Permanent Solution to a Temporary Problem.' which taught me something new and highlighted the reason we need to keep having conversations about mental health. To break down taboos, encourage openness, and educate ourselves about how best to have conversations about mental health with those that we fear are suffering.
I suppose I was a little surprised to find that those in the room and online were quiet after I’d finished speaking, and so I carried on, telling a story about a friend who had suffered and recovered from an episode of complicated grief that impacted her ability to work and led to an extended period in which she was signed off work. Happily, her story ends well with a return to work and a continuing successful career. I also reminded those present that we have mental health first aiders at Keltie who are there to act as a first point of contact for mental health issues, whether work-related or not. I asked for volunteers to become mental health first aiders and for recommendations for books or other resources that people have used in the past and found to be useful for their own mental health.
Since the event, I have been delighted to receive offers of help, volunteers for mental health first aiders, suggestions for mental health resources (which will be compiled and added to our intranet), and people thanking me for organising the event and starting the conversation. So I’m going to call it a success, even if it didn’t quite turn out how I’d expected. I learnt that there is a clear desire for conversations around mental health to continue and that we must continue to work to find ways to make those conversations as easy as possible.
27.08.2024
Keltie volunteers brighten up Horniman Primary SchoolA team of dedicated employees from Keltie's London Bridge office recently took advantage of their annual volunteering leave to make a meaningful impact in the local community. The group, consisting of Joeri Beetz, Emily Weal, Rhona Muir, Madeleine Georgopoulou, and Rebecca Saunders, participated in a volunteer day organised by Community Southwark.
23.08.2024
Ireland’s Hokey Cokey* with the UPC continuesThe Irish Government wants ‘in’ but pending a delayed referendum, Ireland remains ‘out’. But is Ireland actually ‘in’ to some extent already? A recent decision by a Local Division of the UPC Court of First Instance certainly ‘shook it all about’ before that decision was firmly overruled by the UPC Court of Appeal.
Thank you
