Our Wellbeing Champions are an integral part of the Wellbeing programme at Hastings, making sure colleagues are up to date on all things wellbeing - including mental health, physical health, environmental health and resilience. As well as advocating a healthy culture at Hastings, our champions also promote mental health and wellbeing messages, education and events across the company and also support colleagues who may need wellbeing help and support, making sure they have access to the right services to enable them to live healthy and happier lives.
Meet Kerry, a Wellbeing Champion based at our Bexhill office. Here she tells us why she joined the programme and the importance of wellbeing during lockdown.
Tell us what your role is at Hastings and within the Wellbeing programme
I am a Specialist Investigation Unit team leader and work within the anti-fraud department at Hastings. I am also a Wellbeing Champion and part of the Wellbeing management team.
Why did you join the Wellbeing programme?
I joined the Wellbeing programme as I wanted to be able to support colleagues from across the business who might find themselves in a position where they just want to talk to someone about something going on in their lives or a situation they are dealing with, and to have someone to listen. I wanted to feel equipped to be able to point them to resources or organisations that could offer the best support. I know that talking about a situation or issue can often just be the first step to getting the help that might be needed.
Tell us more about Wellbeing management team and the importance of the group.
The Wellbeing management team meet regularly so that we can talk about how the programme is going, the successes, any feedback and areas where we could do more. It gives us an opportunity to also share what colleagues are telling us and what they would like to see or hear more about. This allows us then to plan ahead so we can try and cover events that will be of help to as many colleagues as possible throughout the year.
How do you feel the Wellbeing programme is helping colleagues?
In my opinion, the Wellbeing programme is a really positive, important part in any organisation and we have seen its success at Hastings. I had an occasion where someone shared a situation with me that they hadn’t told anyone else about, not even their partner or family and following our conversation, decided they needed to seek help. We talked about what organisation could best support them and after a few weeks the person made contact to thank me for the support and helping find an organisation that had made such a huge difference in their life.
How would you like to see the Wellbeing programme evolve in the future?
I would love for the Wellbeing to evolve into something that everyone finds useful. I think there is still a perception that it is all about mental health but in actual fact there is a wide range of events and information covering a range of topics that colleagues could find useful for either themselves or a family member or a friend. It would be great to know that everyone is aware of what it has to offer and gets the benefit from it.
With most of our colleagues now working from home, many for the first time, what hints and tips would you give to stay motivated during the day?
We could never have imagined this would be how the start to 2020 would look! We will all go through having our good days and not so good days for whatever reason whilst we are in this situation. We have already had to go through a lot of changes to our lifestyles so allow ourselves time to adapt. Finding a routine is really helpful. Keep communication up with colleagues and share how your day is going and finding out how they are. Take a moment to get some fresh air – whether you can get out for a walk, onto a balcony or just by an open window or, if possible, take some time to exercise whether that’s indoors or out. And when you are finished working, take time to have positive communication with family and friends.
Date added: 27th May 2020