Today, 10th October, Swindon’s Excalibur Communications, supports World Mental Health Day, by extending its company Wellbeing Programme. Excalibur is working hard to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and create a workplace environment that supports the wellbeing of its employees. Today, as part of this initiative, staff members are invited to attend mindfulness sessions, being held by local charity IPSUM, try out nutritious juices from local social enterprise ‘Fresh Health and Wellness Juices’ and enjoy a 15 minute head and neck massage. Workshops held throughout the day will signpost staff to the types of support available when tackling mental health challenges.
Peter Boucher, Excalibur CEO, speaking about the health and wellbeing, says; “World Mental Health Day demonstrates there is a growing understanding of the importance of mental health in society. It’s a big issue and employers have a responsibility to play their part in establishing a culture of health and wellbeing among its employees. Everyone has ups and downs and employers need to make sure they have the tools to recognise when people might need extra help and support. Our Wellbeing Programme aims to make this happen.”
The Excalibur Wellbeing programme is a collaboration of ideas and input from across the company. It focuses on particular health and wellbeing issues each quarter. For example, Excalibur line managers will all undergo training by IPSUM to learn how to spot the signs of poor mental health in friends and colleagues. It is working closely with IPSUM, who have been serving the Swindon community since 1974, supporting the wellbeing and stability of clients through talking and creative therapies, to deliver aspects of the programme.
Excalibur has a strong culture of charity and every year, staff choose and nominate charities they would like to raise money for, with fundraising initiatives being match funded by the company. For 2018, Excalibur employees have chosen to raise funds for IPSUM and a number of local mental health charities. With an average age of 32 across the business, the fundraising team is placing an emphasis on helping those organisations who provide services for young people.
