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    Mental Health & Wellbeing

    The Society is committed to supporting all our colleagues with their wellbeing, whether that be through training, tools or resources.

    This wellbeing area is designed to be easily accessible for all colleagues to access associated information to support their wellbeing, which also includes the support colleagues can access through our employee assistance provider – GroceryAid.

    Some information on this page is private. Sign in to view:

    • Your mental health champions and contact details

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    What is GroceryAid?

    GroceryAid is the national charity that helps people across the whole of the grocery industry (please note for Midcounties Co-operative GroceryAid will cover all colleagues), providing emotional, practical and financial support.

    Further details of the support they offer can be found further down this page, and you can also find out more by watching their video below...

    Helpful Contact Information

    GroceryAid are here to support you 27/7, 365 days a year, you can get in touch and find out more via the contact details below:

    Phone - 08088 021 122

    Live Chat - click here 

    Website - click here

    What Services Do They Offer?

    GroceryAid provide a wide range of vital services including mental health support, financial grants, face-to-face counselling, & much more

    You can find out more by clicking on the boxes below...

    Important costs like energy, food and rent are rising steeply. If you're worried about being able to afford these increases, you are not alone. Click here to find support.

    You can use the benefits calculator to find out which benefits you may be entitled to claim by clicking here.

    GroceryAid supports grocery colleagues who give care to, or who are cared for by others in their household. Click here to find out more.

    Colleague Mental Health Support App by Everymind

    Did you know 1 in 4 people report they are affected by common mental health difficulties? To complement the support that our partner GroceryAid offers, you can also download your mental health support app, designed by Everymind. Available to all colleagues, download the app today and improve your own Mental Wellbeing..

    To find out more and download the app - click here

    Mental Health & Wellbeing Policy

    The mental health and wellbeing of you, our colleagues, is just as important as your physical health and this policy how the Society will encourage and facilitate working practices and services that support mental health and wellbeing; to minimise wherever possible the impact of work-related stress on all colleagues.

    To read our Mental Health & Wellbeing Policy, please click here.

    Occupational Health - Health Partners

    Occupational Health is a tool to help keep colleagues well at work both physically and mentally. Occupational health services help keep our colleagues healthy and safe whilst in work and manage any risks in the workplace that are likely to give rise to work-related ill health. 

    You can find out more about the services available to you by clicking the box below...

    Who are Health Partners?

    Health Partners are the Society’s chosen Occupational Health provider. Health Partners assist the Society in ensuring our colleagues' health and wellbeing is fully supported whether they are currently in the workplace or away from work due to ill health.

    You can find out more about Health Partners by visiting their website here.

     

    What is Occupational Health?

    Occupational Health is a tool to help keep colleagues well at work both physically and mentally. Occupational health services help keep our colleagues healthy and safe whilst in work and manage any risks in the workplace that are likely to give rise to work-related ill health. 

    The Society uses Occupational Health for many reasons including:

    • Supporting colleagues who are off on long term sickness to return back to work

    • Supporting colleagues who are working with medical conditions and/or require support and workplace adjustments to help keep them safe and remain at work

    • To help signpost colleagues to other internal and external resources they can access to gain support with their health and wellbeing

    • Provides line managers with support in understanding a colleague’s medical condition and how they can best support their colleagues to remain at work

     

    Do you feel you could benefit from using the Society’s Occupational Health services?

    If you have a medical condition that you feel it would be useful to gain input for Occupational Health you should discuss this with your line manager in the first instance who if appropriate will make contact with the HR team on your behalf and arrange for the referral to take place.

     

    What is the process of being referred to Occupational Health?

    Your manager will gain your consent to be referred to Occupational Health, this consent will be gained verbally. Your line manager will then discuss your health concerns and the reason for a referral with a member of the HR team and they will complete a referral through our online portal on your behalf.

     

    Once referred to Health Partners what should I expect?

    Your case will initially be triaged so that it can be identified who at Health Partners is best placed to conduct your referral. The majority of the referrals will take place with an Occupational Health Clinician.

    Once triaged Health Partners will arrange an appointment directly with you and will contact you either by phone or email. It’s important that once the appointment is made you make a note of this and if you can’t attend for any reason you make Health Partners aware so they can reschedule otherwise the society will still be charged for the referral. If your appointment is arranged within your working hours you should discuss this with your line manager so that they can ensure you are able to have time away from work in a private space.

    The referral itself will usually be conducted over the phone but sometimes referrals may take place over video conferencing or in person. Your clinician will ask you questions about your medical condition and how you feel it impacts you, especially in the workplace.

    Once the referral has taken place your clinician will prepare a report for the Society which you will get to review and consent to before it is released to the HR team. 

     

    Health Guides

    As part of our partnership with Health Partners, the Society gains access to regular health awareness information regarding various medical conditions that colleagues may find useful and can be located below. If you have a medical condition that is not listed below but would benefit from having more information or support on, please contact the HR Advice Line on 01926 516469 and we can request this information on your behalf.

    Reasonable Adjustments

    If you feel you need additional support in your role due to ill health or a disability, reasonable adjustments can be made in various ways to help you carry out your role effectively, click here for some helpful information on examples and how to request reasonable adjustments. 

    i.Learn

    On your e-learning platform, i.learn, there are a wide range of information and resources to help raise awareness and provide advice on various different mental health issues, from GroceryAid courses through to advice on how to sleep better.

    To check out the resources on i.learn, please click here.

    Pulse Surveys

    Every four weeks we send out a pulse survey on Colleagues Connect for colleagues to give us their honest and anonymous feedback. This is so we can continually monitor the engagement of all our colleagues across the Society, and where necessary make changes based on your feedback.

    It is so important that all colleagues take part, so we have a really good breadth of feedback to act on, and of course, it's completely confidential. The surveys will take no more than 5 minutes to complete, so please make sure you get involved. Keep an eye out in our stories section for your next pulse survey!

    Colleague Check-ins

    Your Colleague Check-ins have been introduced to allow all of our colleagues to request time with their manager to discuss their goals and expectations, Wellbeing, Career or Development.

    Caring for the wellbeing of all colleagues is one of our key Society values, and is what makes us Team Midcounties, it’s something we are always happy to support you with.

    Whether it’s a small worry, or a big issue, our society is dedicated to providing the utmost support and advice wherever necessary through all of the appropriate channels.

    For more information on Check-ins, please see the Colleague Check-in page on colleague’s connect, found here, including what check-ins are all about and how you can have them.

    Your Mental Health & Wellbeing YouTube Playlist

    Take a look at our playlist on YouTube which includes some inspirational stories from Jason Fox (SAS Who Dares Wins), former premier league footballer Clarke Carlisle and much more...

    To view the YouTube playlist, please click here.

    Podcasts to Improve Your Mental Health & Wellbeing

    Podcasts can be a great source of information, advice and just an opportunity to switch off from the outside world.

    Click on the links below to find some wonderful podcasts to help improve your mental health & wellbeing:

    Top Tips From MIND

    MIND is a charity organisation that offer support to people across the UK. We've selected some top tips put together by MIND to help your mental health & wellbeing. Click on the links below to find out more: