It was Time to Talk on Thursday 2nd of February, a great campaign to create a space for conversations about Mental Health.
The Coop, a Bronze Achiever in our Wellbeing at Work Awards with active Champions working in Plymouth had a very creative way of getting involved with Time to Talk.
We caught up with Kath Hendrick, Engagement Co-ordinator at The Coop and one of our Wellbeing Champions. Kath wanted to highlight the importance of ‘Talking’ and so wanted to create a space for people to do just that. To achieve this, Kath worked with the local library, which is one of the many warm spaces in the local community, she invited an individual from one of the Coop Local Causes who work with people with mental health. Kath also invited the Samaritans as she had worked with them before and learnt that even if you give out a card with a phone number on it, this could help someone reach out!
“For the day, I organised a table with some compost, bulbs, pots, and paint for people to come and sit, have a cuppa, connect with a bit of nature with the bulbs and compost but to also relax with a bit of art, painting their pots. This was done to create a calming space for people to open up and have a chat, as sometimes it can be hard to someone to do if they don’t feel comfortable and are asked to openly talk about things which may not necessarily come natural to them”
“The library event was rather quiet, but we engaged with a few people and raised awareness of Time to Talk. Our local cause, ‘Grow 4 Good’, were also able to raise awareness of their work as did the volunteers from Samaritans. However, we got some good plant pots outside of the library now and hopefully will have some lovely blooms in the summer months!”
“I returned to my workplace, the Coop Depot in Plympton and I set up the same activity that we had in the library. I hoped colleagues might get involved but I really wasn’t sure. However, I did have engagement and I was thrilled that some colleagues came to join in and at some point, there were about eight of us in the room, just chatting about all sorts of things whilst we planted some summer bulbs and painted our pots – it was great! We’ve now got some pots planted up for summer outside the depot, but the most important reason from all of this was a reason to access a space where people could talk if they wanted to”
Great work Kath! What a successful day and the most important part was that people felt comfortable enough to have those important conversations which help us to connect and in return support each other.
