Social Enterprise Spotlight – MHScot Workplace Wellbeing
Posted: 26 May 2020, in News
Our newest Social Enterprise Spotlight is Catherine Eadie and MHScot Workplace Wellbeing. MHScot are a small disability-led Social Enterprise, based in Edinburgh, which supports the mental health and wellbeing of all Scotland’s workforce in the private, public and third sector. Read and share their Q&A interview below! Get in contact with Catherine on hello@mentalhealthscot.land.
What’s your social and/or environmental mission?
MHScot Workplace Wellbeing is a small, disability-led social enterprise, supporting the mental health and wellbeing of all Scotland’s workforce in the private, public and third sectors. Our focus is on education, mental health literacy and culture, delivering courses and workshops, awareness-raising and tailoring mental health programmes for particular workplaces and environments.
How do you do it? (client group, practical daily work, customers etc.)
We work across all sectors of the community,mostly helping employers achieve valued and productive workforces by implementing mental health training and a culture of care so that employees are better able to deal with the pressures and stresses of the modern workplace and beyond
Our public courses are made up of individuals who come from a wide range of industries and professions. Our in-house courses run at our client’s premises, and now we are gearing up to deliver coursesonline for the public and in-house.
What’s your personal motivation for being a social entrepreneur?
Poor mental health and wellbeing is one of the biggest public health challenges facing society today and is the leading cause of sickness absence in the workplace. It can cause immense distress to those experiencing it – as well as to those closest to them.
Having experienced challenges with my own mental health and latterly, physical health, I am determined to find a way of helping others to either avoid or minimise the impact of poor mental health. Our emphasis is on prevention, timely intervention, and support towards recovery.
What are your current projects?
In response to the changes that Covid-19 has forced upon us, we have had to change how we operate and adapt our skills and technologies to continue delivering our services during this crisis. Like all businesses, we are working at managing the unexpected costs incurred in having to change our delivery method from face-to-face training to online platforms. This is crucial to our survival in the short and medium-term, but online training will become an alternative arm of our ongoing operational streams.
We are currently supporting those who are struggling with employment and business insecurity, isolation, as well as key workers, carers and stressed-out families who are all having to deal with uncertainty. The need for our services could not be greater, and we are committed to supporting the national cause in dealing with this pandemic in any way we can.
What exciting things do you have coming up?
The mental health webinars we piloted at the beginning of the lockdown have become so popular and oversubscribed, we are looking at ways to roll them out and expand our reach.
We are also developing our technological capabilities so that we can continue to provide high-quality training online, that doesn’t lose impact in delivery and remains comprehensive and informative. We make use of multi-media such as slides, videos, graphics, quizzes, and interactive elements, much as our face-to-face training does.
We also run regular collaborative network groups for trained mental health first aiders who come together to share best practiceso we will be looking at running these online as well.
Who do you want to work with more?
We will continue working with businesses and organisations as they have such untapped potential for making positive changes to people’s lives as well as to their communities and to the wider social landscape. If we want to create healthier communities, then this is a great place to start.
What’s your biggest challenge?
Our biggest challenge right now is in mobilising our online capacity to meet the increased needs around mental health and wellbeing. To develop organisational strategies thatmake us resilient to future challenges during what could potentially be a long recovery back to business as usual.
What top tips would you give to other social enterprises?
It’s difficult to offer any advice at present as some businesses will be able to make some adaptations and others will struggle. However, if you can, use this time to develop new skills and keep communicating with your staff, clients, and support systems. Listen to ideas and give people the autonomy to innovate. We need to think creatively to maintain our presence in the market and communities that we work with. Work with what you have and take small steps to maintain and build on what you have created.