2018 Scottish Enterprise Awards

32 SME NEWS / 2018 Scottish Enterprise Awards , MHScot Workplace Wellbeing CIC is a disability led Social Enterprise, based in Edinburgh, which supports the emotional wellbeing of Scotland’s workforce and volunteers. We spoke to Catherine Eadie from the organisation to find out more about the vital work it undertakes. Best Employee Mental Health Support Service 2018 SCO18015 Established in 2014 to address concerns around the emotional wellbeing of Scotland’s workforce, MHScot Workplace Wellbeing took up the challenge of encouraging employers to address the mental health requirements of their employees, volunteers and clients whilst championing a proactive rather than reactive response to mental health in the workplace. Catherine is keenly aware of the importance of developing an organisation’s ability to support the mental health and wellbeing of its staff and clients and that with a very small investment, huge benefits can be drawn. “In today’s stressful world, it is more important than ever that workplaces should promote good mental health amongst their employees as it is proven that alongside early intervention, a healthy working culture can prevent mental illnesses from developing. A way to achieve this is to give people the training and the tools to support those around them with mental health issues, whether in the workplace, at home or in the community at large.” MHScot is Scotland’s first social enterprise tackling stress prevention and early intervention in the workplace. “One thing that we strive to do is to provide the best quality mental health education including Mental Health First Aid. Our ‘open’ courses are very popular as are our in-house courses. We also run a series of workshops covering a range of aspects around mental health and can design them to suit the specific needs of different industries and workplaces.” “We are also able to help organisations draw up a workplace Mental Health First Aid framework in order to support the qualified Mental Health First Aiders in their workplace.” These innovative courses are a small part of MHScot’s vast service offering, which Catherine outlines in detail. “Here at MHScot, we offer mental health courses, workshops, awareness raising sessions, focus groups and 1-to-1 support to help improve and create positive, empowering and resilient workplace environments. Healthy working environments also create and maintain health home environments in which everyone can thrive. We offer our courses MHScot Workplace Wellbeing CIC