North of Tyne businesses offered support to break down mental health barriers

A new training session aimed at breaking down the barriers around discussing mental health in the workplace will be on offer in the North of Tyne area from January 2023.

Wellness at Work is a fully funded workshop session open to employers and employees in all sectors, organised by Northumberland-based business support organisation, NBSL. The new Wellness at Work online workshop is part of NBSL’s fully funded Better Business Skills programme and is on offer to anyone aged 19 or over who lives in the North of Tyne area, thanks to funding from the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

David Jackson, skills manager at NBSL, explained: “Since the pandemic I think we’ve all become more aware of the toll that poor mental health can take on people, and on businesses. Our new Wellness at Work training session will help overcome the barriers that still exist when it comes to discussing mental health in the workplace, and will help employers learn how to better support their teams.”

“The programme will show how proactive mental health strategies can help businesses recruit and retain staff and will demonstrate the potential return on investment of a mental health or wellbeing strategy. The follow up session also allows individuals to identify ways of embedding their learning helping to create coping strategies but also build strategies for the benefit of others.

“Wellness at Work is delivered by trainer Duncan Robertson, co-founder of Dittolo, who specialises in helping business create stronger workplaces where people can thrive. Organisations want to do the right thing and support their employees but there’s still a stigma attached to talking about mental health in the workplace, meaning it’s difficult for businesses to provide appropriate support,” said Duncan.

“Through this workshop, I want to help businesses to think about what their mental health strategy should be and give them the confidence to take the first steps to drive positive change and help make their business a great place to work. Our purpose is to ensure that nobody struggles with their mental health alone.”

Wellness at Work is open to residents of the North of Tyne area who are aged 19 or over, whether they are employees or business owners.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily