It’s been a busy week at Halton Housing. As well as celebrating Learning at Work Week, we have also marked Mental Health Awareness Week with a focus this year on anxiety. 

This important annual event in the calendar from the Mental Health Foundation aims to increase people's awareness and understanding of anxiety by providing information on the things that can help prevent it from becoming a problem. 

In support of Mental Health Awareness Week, our People team have been supporting our colleagues making sure they know how and where to access support if they ever need it.  

This included a dedicated HR breakfast where colleagues from across the organisation could drop in and chat to the team about mental health (or anything else) over a spot of breakfast. HR breakfasts are a regular event at Halton, and anyone joining us as an employee in the future can feel re-assured of the help and support they will receive if ever they need someone to reach out to. 

Head of HR, Tracy Fairclough said: 

“People suffer from poor mental health every day, and it can be caused by anything. Most of us have been exposed to anxiety in some form or another, for some cases it’s a minor inconvenience, for others it is truly debilitating. A major trigger for anxiety is the feeling of not belonging, of not being free to feel your truth and to be who you are. Our aim is to make everyone feel equally valued and to feel part of the organisation and as such we will always fight for inclusivity.” 

At Halton Housing, we take mental wellbeing seriously. Last year a number of our colleagues were awarded the NCFE CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Mental Health First Aid and Mental Health Advocacy qualification. The colleagues who are all Wellbeing Champions competed the qualification as part of their commitment to raising awareness of mental health in the workplace and breaking the stigma of mental ill health. 

One Wellbeing Champion, Neighbourhoods Allocations Manager, Daz Morland went one step further in supporting people with mental health, walking over 100 miles in May for mental health charity MIND. Daz raised hundreds of pounds which will no doubt go a long way to helping MIND support people across Halton. 

Mental Health Awareness Week Takes place each year in May and aims to shine a spotlight on mental health across all aspects of life. The Mental Health Foundation provides some fantastic online resources and information on who to contact if you need help.