Around 1 in 4 of us will experience mental health problems every year in the UK, a statistic that speaks volumes in a time where mental health awareness has never been more current. A recent review of mental health in the workplace issued by the Government provided some eye opening statistics:
“There is a large annual cost to employers of between £33 billion and £42 billion (with over half of the cost coming from presenteeism – when individuals are less productive due to poor mental health in work) with additional costs from sickness absence and staff turnover”
As a local Manchester agency that works with both local clients and candidates, when the time came to pick a charity to support in 2018 it was important to us to choose an organisation that supported and actively aimed to help tackle the big issues facing our community. We immediately identified mental health as a key issue we wanted to support, especially as mental health can have a huge impact on one of the fundamental areas of our industry: the workplace. Another key issue we wanted to address was homelessness, something we believe is one of the biggest challenges Manchester faces as a city. It’s these two key causes that led us to find our Charity Partner for 2018: Manchester Mind.
Manchester Mind are an independent local charity (an affiliated member of the Mind network) that raise over all their own funds to deliver mental health services across the city. They support 5000 people every year and over 100 volunteers help deliver vital services in the community, including community cafes, advice drop-ins, peer support groups, a wide range of services for young people (15-26 years), family invention work, as well as workplace training for employers, plus mindfulness and emotional resilience courses. For more details please visit www.manchestermind.org.
We are thrilled to be supporting this organisation for 2018, a year when mental health awareness is growing in momentum and importance in Manchester, the UK, and across the globe. Though 2018 is just beginning, we have already lined up some exciting events to support Manchester Mind, including:
- A (soon to be announced) Summer Fundraiser, with all donations and money raised going to support Manchester Mind’s ‘Food For All’ project
- Llinos, Aoife, Matt and other members of the team will also take part in the ‘Food For All’ project by volunteering on their Friday lunch breaks later this year
- Llinos and Aoife will be getting their running shoes on for the Manchester 10k to raise some extra money
We hope that the money we raise this year will help to raise awareness, promote positive mental health practices, and to support the vulnerable members of our community through the fantastic ‘Food For All’ project.