Compass Group UK & Ireland launches mental health awareness campaign

In honour of World Mental Health Day, Compass Group UK & Ireland, has launched a campaign to raise awareness of mental health in the workplace.

Statistics from mental health charity Mind show every year one in four people in the UK will experience mental health problems. As part of the campaign, Compass has pledged to support employees, raise awareness and reduce the stigma around mental health.

To achieve this, it has rolled out a toolkit with a set of guidelines to best support and promote positive mental health. It also introduced a network of 90 wellbeing ambassadors made up of colleagues at all levels from across the business who will encourage open conversations.

Compass has also signed the Time to Change pledge, a movement which aims to support and change how people think and act about mental health, making sure that employees who are facing problems feel supported.

Chris Garside, managing director at Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: "We are extremely proud to have become signatories of the Time to Change pledge and are absolutely committed to raising awareness around mental health and further enhancing a supportive and open working environment through our own campaign."

"Experiencing mental health problems is something that any one of us can go through at any point and as a business with around 60,000 employees it is essential that we provide the support needed by our colleagues in the workplace. We hope the work we are doing will go a long way in encouraging and promoting positive mental health."

Jo Loughran, director of operations at Time to Change, said: "We know it can be hard to talk about mental health, which is why we're supporting employers to open up; to talk and to listen. Too many people with mental health problems are made to feel isolated, ashamed and worthless, but with the right support, those of us with mental health problems can recover and have equal opportunities in all areas of life. Everyone's attitude makes a difference and it's fantastic to see organisations like Compass Group UK & Ireland taking the lead."

For World Mental Health Day Chartwells’ teams in schools, academies, colleges and universities across the UK wore yellow to support the campaign.

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