World Mental Health Day – Supporting Mental Health at Work

Maudsley Charity supports our own staff through a range of benefits and flexible working policies. You can see more about this from a staff perspective as our Director of Fundraising and Communications, Elvira Morrison shared on LinkedIn.

Alongside supporting our staff Maudsley Charity also helps South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to support staff.

One way we have done this is working with South London and Maudsley to secure funding for the Pop-Up Rest and Recharge Hub where staff can take some time out to look after their wellbeing. The hub offers massage, arts and crafts and other wellbeing activities, alongside a chance to engage with the Staff Support Team and other colleagues. The Hub moves across the trust’s different sites in order to reach out to staff in their place of work.

As part of Maudsley Charity’s World Mental Health Day activities there is a special Pop-Up Rest and Recharge Hub in ORTUS, where the charity is based.

Maudsley Charity are proud to have played an important role in supporting the Rest and Recharge Hubs, working with the Staff Support Team to secure two years worth of funding from NHS Charities Together. This was building on a previous pilot project, Winter of Wellbeing, that ran in 2022-2023.

South London and Maudsley’s staff, and other teams across the NHS, face increasing demand for services alongside decreasing resources. Their work is often taxing emotionally and psychologically. Feedback from staff has been resoundingly positive with 99 percent of those using the service saying it had a positive impact on their wellbeing.

In the words of Melissa, who has been seconded to the service as a facilitator and used to manage frontline services for inpatients:

“As frontline staff we are brilliant at looking after others, however when it comes to ourselves, we often don’t give the same amount of time, often missing lunch and not taking time to unwind. What the R&R hubs offer is a relaxing space to take part in activities that benefit that individual, offering them some down time from their day. A chance to connect with others in the same building they don’t often have time to talk too. Getting to know colleagues better, also relaxing. Taking time to talk to one of the staff support team or myself about how things are going. Colleagues are positive about the hubs and always come away wanting more!”