Wellbeing tree

Mental Health

We all have mental health, and at Plan4Sport we believe that a healthy mind and body is key to living life to the full.

Supporting organisations to move away from reactive management of illness and sickness absence, to the promotion of psychological wellness and resilience in the workplace, is our goal.

Our vision is that everyone can ‘Be their true self, thriving at home and work, every day’.

Plan4Sport delivers a number of programmes to help employers develop their own approach to mental health and wellbeing in the workplace and this includes:

  • Education, training and online learning;
  • Resource development;
  • In-house support programmes for colleagues including Covid-19.

Education, training and online learning

Educating organisations and employees about mental health helps break down the cycle of stigma, encourages positive engagement and conversations, and boosts psychological resilience within the workplace.

Businesses should consider ways to manage mental ill health in the workplace, such as providing information or training for managers and employees and appointing people trained in mental health first aid (Health and Safety Executive).

Online courses

Plan4Sport offers both online andremote facilitated workshops for you to access. The online mental health awareness course takes approximately 30 minutes and comes with a downloadable certificate, whilst the remote facilitated workshop can accommodate up to 10 people and runs for 75 minutes.

Please contact Plan4Sport for further information.

Face-to-face courses

Plan4Sport delivers the following face to face courses:

  • Mental health awareness ;
  • Mental health masterclass for leaders;
  • Accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England training;
  • Bespoke training for your organisation.

Mental Health Awards through our Bronze, Silver and Gold Framework  

A Framework for Action was launched by Plan4Sport in February 2019 to help the public and private sector address the growing concern of mental health within the workplace. We have developed this using industry expertise against a benchmarked set of actions which we believe are realistic and achievable. The Framework will help any business develop its approach to mental health in the workplace based on legal compliance, research, best practice and extensive professional experience.

We have a number of sports bodies, professional football clubs and public sector organisations currently working towards the Bronze Award. This includes Scottish Gymnastics and Wales Golf who have both recently achieved this Award.

“The support (from Plan4Sport) was excellent, highly experienced and expert resource that guided me through their Mental Health framework and has also given me details to support our future plans. The framework is a great way to encourage companies to think about this area without feeling overwhelmed at where to start.

“Working on the Bronze Framework gave us structure and a clear focus which enabled us to be clearer with what we had done already but more importantly, where our focus would be going forward. A better understanding of the legal framework surrounding this and the psychological risk assessment, provided the avenue to open-up discussions with our board and all staff and look at what we could be doing to support our membership too.”

Operations Manager, Scottish Gymnastics

Resource development

Plan4Sport has identified a wide range of useful support to help businesses shape their approach to mental health in the workplace. Please click on the useful resources section below to access these for yourself or your organisations.

In-house colleague support programmes (including for Covid-19)

We have delivered a number of in-house support programmes for staff members, offering monthly seminars and contact sessions as well as signposting staff to professional or medical services. This now includes a specific staff programme to support all staff wellbeing during and after the Covid-19 crisis. See below for further details.

Covid-19

COVID-19 is described as the worst public health crisis in a generation. Plan4Sport has responded to this crisis with the development of a new short support programme which anyone can access.

Our Covid-19 response is here to support you if:

  • You are leading the business
  • You are supporting others at work
  • You are a volunteer
  • You want to be a Psychological First Aider
  • You are working from home
  • You are feeling anxious or worried about COVID-19.

Here’s what we have done

As part of Plan4Sport’s mental health and wellbeing work strand we recognise how important supporting people is at this time. We have therefore developed a short support programme called Psychological First Aid to help businesses and sports bodies to support their colleagues and customers during this crisis and beyond.

What is Psychological First Aid (PFA)?

PFA is a structured, evidence-based, framework for identifying and supporting people in distress following a crisis or traumatic event. It was developed by the World Health Organisation in 2014 to have a widely agreed protocol available in the event of a major disaster. Historically it has been delivered at ground or street level through personal interaction between PFA Responders and those effected.

PFA has been used effectively in the aftermath of many crises, including: The Ebola Epidemic, West Africa (2014); Grenfell Tower Fire, London (2017).

Plan4Sport has taken this PFA Framework and developed an online version in March 2020 to enable interaction between helpers and people affected and to support the mental and physiological wellbeing of everyone impacted by this crisis.

Please contact Plan4Sport to find out how you can sign up to this programme and support your organisation through PFA.

PFA Programme Lead Co-ordinators

Dr Richard Castle is a Chartered and HCPC-registered Psychologist who has considerable practical experience in the management of the aftermath of collective trauma events, most recently following the Grenfell Tower Fire (2017) where he co-ordinated volunteer groups  delivering street and neighbourhood PFA services and provided linkage between local community groups and the Authorities.  He is a licensed MHFA England – Mental Health First Aid Instructor and is experienced in delivering both PFA training and volunteer emotional support sessions.

Vicky Jackson RN SCPHN-OH is a Specialist Nurse in Occupational Health who has considerable experience in the management of workplace health and wellbeing for both the public and private sector. She has been clinically and operationally involved in supporting individuals and groups in response to trauma events, in addition to advising businesses around risk management, the implementation of strategies to safeguard employee mental wellbeing and embedding organisational emotional resilience. Vicky is a licenced MHFA England – Mental Health First Aid Instructor and is an experienced trainer.

Useful resources

Reliable sources of public health information:

Mental Health Support organisations regularly updated in line with the latest public health guidance: