Today is #TimetoTalk Day.

It’s a day all about creating supportive communities by having conversations with family, friends, or colleagues about mental health.

Conversations about mental health have the power to change lives. Recent research shows how important open conversations are to support everyone’s mental wellbeing.

We took time out of our workday this morning to stop, share coffee & doughnuts and have a non-work-related chat.  Light Bulb Coffee arrived with freshly roasted coffee beans ready to brew up our favourite drinks along with a tray of delicious Pippin’s doughnuts.

Of course, you don’t have to make it a special event and it doesn’t only have to happen once a year, we want everyone to feel comfortable talking about mental health – whenever they like.

By encouraging our team to take #timetotalk we can help support each other and help to create an environment where we can talk openly about mental health and feel empowered to seek help when we need it.

As a business we intend to make this part of our culture.  Our team are fundamental to our success and by offering help or advice to support them in and out of work, promotes wellbeing, happiness, and motivation.  We may not always have the answer but with external resources we can help point them in the right direction.

There is no right way to talk about mental health; however, these tips from Mind Charity & Rethink Mental Illness can help make sure you’re approaching it in a helpful way.

• Ask a question and listen – asking questions can give the person space to express how they’re feeling and what they’re going through. Try to ask questions that are open and not leading or judgmental, like “how does that affect you?” or “what does it feel like?”
• Think about the time & the place – sometimes it’s easier to talk side by side rather than face to face. So, if you do talk in person, you might want to chat while you are doing something else.
• Don’t try and fix it – just talking can be really powerful, so unless they’ve asked for advice directly, it might be best just to listen.
• Treat them the same – when someone has a mental health problem, they’re still the same person as they were before. If you want to support them, keep it simple. Do the things you’d normally do.
• Be Patient – no matter how hard you try, some people might not be ready to talk about what they’re going through. That’s ok – the fact that you’ve tried to talk to them about it may make it easier for them to open up another time.

We also donated the same amount spent on our coffee and doughnuts to the two charities’ supporting this event. 😊