THE BRIGHTSTAR GROUP SUPPORTS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK
10 May 2024
The Brightstar Group will be marking and supporting Mental Health Awareness Week on 13th-19th May, continuing to raise awareness and encourage openness across the business around the issue of mental health.
The Mental Health Foundation has hosted Mental Health Awareness Week in the second week of May since 2000. In previous years the week has focused on how anxiety, loneliness, sleep deprivation and relationships can impact our mental health. In 2024 the theme will be ‘Movement: Moving more for our mental health’ and therefore focuses on the benefits of keeping active.
The Mental Health Foundation says, “Movement is important for our mental health, but so many of us struggle to move enough. We know there are many different reasons for this, so this Mental Health Awareness Week we want to help people to find moments for movement in their daily routines. Going for a walk in your neighbourhood, putting on your favourite music and dancing around the living room, chair exercises when you’re watching television – it all counts!”
The Brightstar Group has a week of events planned to raise awareness, get people moving and raise money for their company charities. There will be a week of organised activities for staff to sign up to which includes yoga, self-defence, 5-a-side football, paddle tennis, walking groups and a lunchtime run.
There will also be a whole team (exercise bike) cycle challenge where colleagues will aim to ‘cycle’ to various waypoints along the way to ‘visit’ different lenders. The aim is to reach Together’s offices in Manchester by the end of the week: some 237 miles away from the start of the route. The team can look forward to a ‘mentally healthy’ breakfast and will all be participating in the ‘Wear it Green’ day to show support for mental health.
The Brightstar Group’s Mental Health First Team will be leading the week, which includes Clare Jupp, Group Chief People Officer.
Clare commented: “Too many of us experience daily life as a battle. Emotionally, our heads are only just above water. Holding onto our jobs, managing our family life, paying our bills sometimes threaten to overwhelm us and this is when we can experience difficulties with our mental health. Mental health issues create separations within society which compound the feelings of those who suffer as being different and feeling helpless and lonely. Without appropriate help, mental health issues can destroy people’s lives. At the Brightstar Group, we continue to build awareness about mental health issues and to offer support if needed. We have also created an environment where our team feel comfortable to say if they are experiencing problems and to destigmatize mental health as a whole.”
