Colleagues at AES took time out of their busy work schedules last week to participate in Time to Talk Day. It was great to see such engagement from the staff and support from the management team, to talk about mental health issues and share advice, stories and resources.

The idea initiated by Sam Holton, a Graduate Sustainability Consultant, was to identify some of the signs and key triggers of poor mental health and stress and to share and discuss some of the ways of preventing or dealing with these issues.

Sam said “It took me a very long time to approach anyone and it often feels like the last thing you want to do, especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed with work. For me, just getting talking was the hardest part. Help and resources are available if we can get over that initial barrier of opening up. As a team, we have analysed some of the key causes of poor mental health and discussed ways of addressing them. We’ve pooled together some mental health resources and made sure everyone can do something when times get tough.”

Future sessions are being planned for the team to ensure there is always Time to Talk. We have also allocated time for ’virtual’ coffee breaks and plans are underway for more team sessions where we can discuss ideas and build our resilience.

 

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