Easthams have been signatories to the Mindful Employer charter since 2019. In doing so we made a public declaration of our ambition to support the mental health and well-being of our colleagues by agreeing to uphold the following values.

• To Provide non-judgemental and proactive support to staff with experience of mental ill-health.
• To avoid making assumptions about a person with mental health condition and their ability to work.
• To be positive and enabling toward all employees and applicants with a mental health condition.
• To support our managers in managing mental health in the workplace.
• To ensure the fair recruitment of staff in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.
• To make it clear that people who have experience of mental ill-health will not be discriminated against.

As evidence of our commitment to the Mindful Employer charter we have appointed Natalie Russell as our first Mental Health First Aider. With the aim of assisting our colleagues in focussing on self-care and to help them take control and manage their wellbeing.

Natalie will be able to support any of our colleagues if they ever experience mental ill-health or emotional distress. Natalie’s on-going training provided by Mental Health England will allow her to help colleagues access the appropriate resources.

The training Mental Health England provided will allow Natalie to

• Recognise those that may be experiencing poor mental health and provide them with first-level support and early intervention
• Encourage a person to identify and access sources of professional help and other supports
• Practise active listening and empathy
• Have a conversation with improved mental health literacy around language and stigma
• Discuss the MHFAider® role in depth, including boundaries and confidentiality
• Practise self-care
• Know how to use the MHFAider Support App®
• Know how to access a dedicated text service provided by Shout and ongoing learning opportunities with MHFA England

Our Practice Manager, Gareth Jones commented

“Investing in mental health training helps Easthams promote a supportive environment for our colleagues. We were re-certified as a Mindful employer recently and by appointing and training Natalie I hope we reduce any stigma about talking about mental ill-health and provide an alternative avenue for anyone wanting to access the services available to support them”