Monmouthshire Building Society has three dedicated Wellbeing Champion teams that joined forces during Mental Health Awareness Week to highlight this year’s theme of anxiety. With support from people partner, Kate Griffiths, the Wellbeing Champions organised activities for each day of the week, raising awareness and providing colleagues with support and guidance about anxiety.
The week started with a webinar delivered by Emotional Wellbeing Champions, James Ash and Angharad May, who talked about what anxiety is, its symptoms, its causes, how it can be managed, and how to access support.
Tuesday saw the Physical and Social Wellbeing Champions focus on the impact of food on the mind by sharing a ‘feed your brain’ infographic with information about foods that benefit the brain.
Colleagues from both offices and branches stepped out into the sunshine for a special edition of ‘Walking Wednesday’. The Newport and Brecon groups walked along the rivers in their respective locations and were lucky to be joined by canine colleagues, whilst the Cardiff group were given an orienteering challenge to find their way, and solve clues to spell out a word related to MHAW.
The penultimate activity of the week enticed the most competitive colleagues, including Will Carroll CEO, with ‘Anxiety Cup Pong’. Colleagues took part in a quiz, and had to throw ping pong balls and attempt to get them to land in the cup which displayed the correct answer. This helped dispel myths about anxiety and reveal facts and figures.
MHAW ended with input from the Financial Wellbeing Champions who compiled a tool to provide support and guidance on financial issues that contribute to stress and anxiety. They explained some of the causes of financial difficulty, and provided hints and tips for dealing with financial stress, how to access resources, and where to find help from specialists with the overall aim of improving financial resilience and wellbeing.
It was a successful week with positive feedback from colleagues around the business about the benefits to their wellbeing and the knowledge they gained from the activities. The Society was also lucky enough to be provided with a wealth of resources from Cardiff Mind, which are available for colleagues to browse through and take.
But raising awareness about mental health shouldn’t just be pigeonholed into one week of the year which is why the Wellbeing Champions provide continual support with their calendar of events throughout the year. Coming up in June, the Wellbeing Champions will be celebrating the 100th annual Bike Week, Men’s Health Week, International Yoga Day, and Wellbeing Week. Together, we can make a difference.
