Other ways we are supporting mental health at Opencast include:

Sharing information:

We've got accessible information on our internal Intranet, making it easy to find all the ways Opencast can support when it comes to well-being at work. Whether it's pointing you to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) scheme or connecting you with partners like Peaceful Minds. There are resources from Mental Health First Aid England, as well as, including who our First Aiders are and how to reach out to them.

Groups and communities:

New communities are popping up all over Teams channels, including our Parent Support Network and ‘Neurodiversity Natter’ channels where people reach out for support and advice. And now, we are excited about our new Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). These are spaces where people with shared identities or backgrounds can come together to build a diverse, inclusive and supportive workplace. The ERGs we have are: LGBTQIA, nonbinary & genderqueer folks, Women in Digital and EmbRace (promoting and celebrating multi-ethnicity)

Space:

At our Newcastle HQ we have a retreat room dedicated as a safe space for people who need some time to themselves or a calm and private place to chat with someone. The people experience team has a coffee and cake budget that can be used when a consultant wants to meet for a 1-1 away from a work setting.

Quarterly engagement survey:

We run a quarterly company engagement survey of all of our people, and within this we ask about people's wellbeing at work, and if they feel they have good physical and mental health while working for Opencast. With this we can track how people are feeling within the business and where we can work to improve.

Protecting our mental health first aiders:

Opencast recognises the importance of providing support for those who are part of the MHFA team as this can be a difficult role in itself. We have a MHFA channel on Teams where we can get together to support, talk and listen to each other. If at any time our MHFA feel like they need to take a step back from the role, they are supported in doing this.