by Mark Fairhall
•
21 December 2021
On 29th September 2021, the inaugural Mental Health Roadshow arrived at Chester Delivery Office. The roadshow was run by the CWU, including local management and endorsed by the SDL Ady Fielding, who visited the office during the presentation and participated in the activities. The event was also supported by WWW.PWRPAS.COM with the founder Julian Hughes promoting the free site and the benefits, also sitting down with people on a 1-2-1 basis. Ruth Meadows, Regional LGBTQ+ Lead, came up with this idea shortly after becoming a Mental Health First Aider. The idea was to use large interactive games to initiate conversations and then distribute leaflets and signpost people to help and support. With the assistance of the regional leads, we worked together in creating the roadshow and are looking to expand it to other venues across the region. We're pleased to say that the day was a real success, with three individuals asking to speak to the CWU sponsored MHFA Instructors who could signpost them to various charities and work-related OH Assist for support. We also found that some members were interested in becoming Mental Health First Aiders themselves, so at future events, we will provide a sign-up sheet to check the level of interest in a branch and provide training as soon as possible. Ady Fielding, a keen advocate for mental health, recounted some personal stories and added to the joint approach that mental health should be taking within the business. The management team at Chester D.O were outstanding in supporting the event, and our thanks go out to all concerned for allowing us to hold the pilot event at Chester Delivery Office. The involvement from ASR's Jamie McGovern and Andrew Hickerman, both MHFA Instructors, proved invaluable with advice and how we could best engage with staff. Also, it showed the positive advantages of working with other branches outside of the region. Next, the roadshow will be calling at Royal Mail in Swansea on the 21st/22nd October (further RM/BT dates/venues to follow), and we hope to visit our BT colleagues in Bangor, Swansea and Cardiff soon. We would also like to recognise the work done by the Bangor 999 team in taking emergency calls throughout the pandemic. If you want any additional information about the roadshow or would like us to visit your workplace, don't hesitate to contact Conrad Hunt at asr@shropsmidwales.com, Ady Prins at ady.prins@royalmail.com (07801370104) or Ruth Meadows at equality@shropsmidwales.com (07968210746) Jamie McGovern at james.g.mcgovern@royalmail.com (07790245543) or Andrew Hickerman at andrew.s.hickerman@royalmail.com (01782 743289)