A focus on wellbeing – Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 and beyond…

24th July 2024

Positive mental health is the magic ingredient that keeps our office buzzing. We don’t really need Mental Health Awareness Week to ensure we address the needs of our team, but it was a good opportunity to reinforce our commitment to staff mental health and wellbeing. The programme of activity, extended beyond the designated week with a raft of activities, talks, resources and support.   

For many years we have rolled out lunchtime ‘Walk & Talk’ events in our office neighbourhood as they are a great opportunity to take a full lunch break away from the office, connecting with colleagues whilst moving and getting some fresh air.  Mental Health Awareness Week kicked off with another successful ‘Walk & Talk’, followed by a brilliant talk from Isabella Snyder from our 2024/25 Charity of the Year, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). Isabella talked to the firm about the charity’s support mechanisms and why the organisation is so important and in demand.  We also launched our inaugural office Gratitude Wall initiative which has instigated dozens of spontaneous appreciation notes to colleagues. We also refreshed our online and offline staff wellbeing resources, encouraging the team to take a moment during the week to take advantage of them. This year’s programme – which has been coordinated by the firm’s five-strong Mental Health & Wellbeing team and led by partner Andy Moseby – then extended into June and July with our ‘Walk & Talk’ across Soho and Fitzrovia. 

We were also delighted to host Xception, a team of clinical psychologists supporting prominent people in the public eye, who educated us on how to best manage our own mental health and advice for dealing with those in our professional and personal circles in the public eye who may be needing mental health support. Many of the team also attended an interactive discussion and screening of a TED talk about workplace contribution psychology hosted by our landlord Derwent London’s Women’s Network. We aim to maintain a workplace where everyone can thrive, find someone to talk to when they need it, and look out for each other.  

Watch this space for further inclusion and wellbeing activity plans going forward.