Charities back World Mental Health Day with action

Third Sector is itself running a series of articles online about mental health in the workplace

Scores of charities have made announcements linked to today’s World Mental Health Day, which has the theme of mental health in the workplace.

Third Sector is this week running a series of articles on the theme, which kicked off yesterday with a blog by Mark Flannagan, former chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, describing his mental health struggles.

Today Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind and chair of the charity chief executives body Acevo, has written a piece about the importance of leadership in this area.

The Guardian newspaper today carries a piece written by a novelist using a pseudonym, which calls for more people to consider volunteering for the suicide-prevention charity Samaritans. The newspaper also includes a 20-page supplement on the subject of mental health.

The men’s suicide-prevention charity Calm has partnered with the retailer Topman to launch the #DontBottleItUp campaign, designed to show men it is ok to open up about mental health issues. The campaign is supported by the new Calm ambassador Chris Hughes, who appeared on the ITV show Love Island.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has launched an advice pack for organisations and staff that contains advice on mental health in the workplace. Resources covering a range of areas, including how to recognise a possible mental health problem and how to support those living with mental ill health, can be downloaded from the RCP’s website.

The British Safety Council has today launched a series of paid-for mental health training courses designed to help organisations and their employees start conversations about mental health issues.

The Fire Fighters Charity has announced today that it has set up a new role to boost the psychological support services it provides.

The charity, which provides psychological and physical support to people in the UK fire community, has said it is recruiting a leader for its psychological services, which are provided from its three bases in England.

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Digital round-up: Father’s Day a ‘missed opportunity’ for charities

Plus: grants available to help charities reach the over-65s with information about smart meters; and a Scottish digital fund opens

Father’s Day, which is on Sunday 18 June, is a missed opportunity for the sector, with charities missing out on donations from ethical or alternative gift programmes by not digitally promoting around key calendar events, according to research from the digital media company Equimedia.

The Charities Aid Foundation’s UK Giving Report 2017 said there had been a 19 per cent increase in the number of Britons purchasing ethical gifts over two years. But after conducting keyword analysis of online charity campaigns Equimedia said there had been “no significant uplift from charitable organisations promoting their alternative gift services”. Louise Burgess of Equimedia said: “It is a well-known challenge that many in the third sector are not adopting digital marketing techniques consistently enough to promote their causes. That charities are ignoring key moments throughout the year to engage, moments when Google search data clearly shows that people are actively looking for unusual gifts for their loved ones, highlights a tremendous missed opportunity.”

smart meter

Charities and other non-profit organisations are being invited to apply for grants from the Smart Energy GB in Communities fund to help the over-65s. A total of £250,000 is being made available in small grants of up to £5,000 to organisations that can help Smart Energy GB reach those of this age group who have no access to the internet and provide them with information about smart meters and how to use them in the home. The fund will be administered by the Charities Aid Foundation. Smart meters will see the phasing out of estimated energy bills and are fitted with displays that show the cost of a household’s energy use. Applications for funding are available until 19 July and more information can be found here.

The Digital Xtra Fund has announced a £50,000 fund for projects in Scotland that teach digital skills to young children. This will be the first fund to be made available since the organisation became a charity in March this year. Projects for “innovative, adaptable and sustainable projects” that engage with groups such as girls and young women who are currently under-represented in the sector are being particularly encouraged. The ultimate aim is to increase the number of young people from all backgrounds entering high-skilled careers in digital.

Kraig Brown, partnerships and development manager for the Digital Xtra Fund, said: “We want to improve digital skills among young people by supporting high-quality extracurricular activities, thereby preparing them better for a digital future and inspiring them to consider a career in digital tech.”

The closing date for applications is 1 September and more information can be found here.

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