World Mental Health Day is taking place on Sunday 10th October and is dedicated to raising awareness and challenging the stigma surrounding mental health. At Excelcare, we wanted to honour and emphasise the importance of good mental health, so we have decided to share stories and advocate for mental health awareness all week.
Throughout the week, we are sharing stories from people in the Excelcare family, where doing one thing that has made a difference to their own mental wellbeing.
Yesterday, we shared Samantha’s story and today, we share the story of Hazel Stacey, Leadership Development Facilitator, who is the driving force amongst the group’s Mental Health First Aiders, sharing tips, knowledge and updates each month.
“Team members' wellbeing is vitally important now more than ever, having lived through COVID. Excelcare has been particularly proactive by training Mental Health First Aiders within our homes. We currently have 44 Mental Health First Aiders across the group and this number is increasing on a monthly basis with the objective that each home has a minimum of two Mental Health First Aiders.
Every one of us has mental health and there is not health without mental health. The role of a Mental Health First Aider is to be a point of contact for a team member who is experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress. This interaction could range from having an initial conversation, to supporting the person to get appropriate help.
#DoOneThing! I love this hashtag as I try to ‘Do One Thing’ every day no matter how small, because you never know how it will impact another individual. The other day I was standing at the checkout and the person in front of me was having problems paying for the shopping. With a small child crying in the trolley, I could see that she was getting embarrassed and upset. The checkout assistant was informing her that her card wasn’t working and that she would have to pay with an alternative card. She replied that she had left her handbag at home and only had this card. I offered to pay for her shopping (it wasn’t a huge amount) and she started crying. The shopping was dealt with and I assisted her to her car and spent some time with her. She was a complete stranger, but as a Mental Health First Aider, I am here to support absolutely anyone, just as a physical first aider would be. You never know when or who will need your support, so if you can #DoOneThing today no matter how small, just think of the impact that your kindness will have on the individual.”
We will continue to share the stories of people in the Excelcare family on our website and on Facebook throughout the week, in the hope that we can expand the conversations that we are having surrounding mental health. If you would like more information about Excelcare’s Mental Health First Aiders please email training@excelcareholdings.com.