As the bank holiday approaches, we will be entering our tenth week in lockdown, as it was 23 March that the Prime Minister officially announced the country had to stay home in order to flatten the spread of the coronavirus.
The impact of such intense social restriction, and isolation for some, on our mental health has yet to be exactly measured. But it’s safe to say that acts of kindness have helped so many people manage through this difficult time. From NHS rainbows put up in windows to sweet treats left out for local binmen – people have been moved by the crisis to be kind. And these sentiments have certainly been appreciated by the receiver of the kind deed.
There are also things we can do in the workplace to support each other. To help raise awareness of mental health in the workplace, this week in Barnet has officially been Kindness Week. Everyday Yammer has been updated with resources and assistance programmes the council supports, that can help us all feel lifted.
Mental Health First Aiders are passionate about helping staff or lending a listening ear during this time, so much so they have set up a rota to ensure there is always one of them to cover staff queries throughout the working week.
First Team spoke to Tim Hoyle and Jayne Abbott (pictured) about why they decided to become Mental Health First Aiders for Barnet staff – and what kind of issues people have been contacting them about, especially during this time of coronavirus.
There is a live Q&A with Mental Health First Aiders where you can ask them general questions and get a conversation going about how to stay mentally healthy, (which is good for us anyway). Please contact Amelia Stanley if you would like to attend the session, which is being held through Microsoft Teams on Thursday 21 May from 1-2pm.
Jayne says: “I firmly believe in the power of human conversations and that by providing a safe, confidential space to explore feelings, giving someone the time to talk and allowing them the reflective space to be their own expert can be extremely powerful.”
Don’t forget to collate all those positive milestone stories that have happened in your teams, or something amazing a colleague has done and post them to Yammer using the hashtag #Thoughtsforfriday. Or email them to first.team@barnet.gov.uk. The idea is that we all have something good to reflect on at the end of a long working week every Friday.
Click here to read the full interview with Jayne and Tim.