2018 Scottish Enterprise Awards

SME NEWS / 2018 Scottish Enterprise Awards 33 MHScot Workplace Wellbeing CIC g Company: MHScot Workplace Wellbeing CIC Contact: Catherine Eadie Address: 101 Rose Street, South Lane, Edinburgh, EH2 3JG, UK Phone: 0774 981 7473 Website: www.mhscot-consultancy.co.uk to organisations, corporates and individuals in Scotland. Our courses are open to everyone and are run by our team of professional qualified trainers.” “Fundamentally, MHScot’s mission is to help Scotland’s organisations achieve a valued and productive workforce by implementing a culture of care, increasing skills among management and staff and develop a healthy outlook that equips people to deal with the pressures and stresses of the modern workplace. Everything that we offer is devised with this in mind, to teach several important principles that are often missed in many training and development courses.” As a young organisation, MHScot has achieved incredible success in a short period, which Catherine believes is down to her dedicated team of staff and a growing awareness in business of the value of a motivated, productive and satisified workforce. “Winning this award is a triumph for our organisation, and we believe the reasons behind our success is firmly built on the dedicated team of people at MHScot, and their passion and belief in what we do. Although MHScot is a relatively small organisation, everyone who represents us embraces a healthy working culture and strong teamworking skills. All our people have had first-hand experience of or had exposure to mental health issues in the workplace, so, as a team, we offer an incredibly comprehensive and diverse range of skills, services, training and advice which is backed by trusted, knowledgeable and empathetic people devoted to challenging and changing the perception of mental health in the workplace.” Ultimately, for many years, workplace mental health issues have been ignored or simply not taken seriously by companies and organisations. The root of this has been the sheer lack of understanding and knowledge around the issues that cause poor mental health as well as a lack of confidence in how to tackle them. With the support of the Scottish Parliament, and other key national groups, associations and charities, mental health is now gaining greater recognition and understanding in society and crucially in our places of work. Although there is still a long way to go, the stigma surrounding mental health issues has greatly reduced and it is no longer something that people shy away from discussing or are afraid to bring up in conversation. Catherine is proud of how far MHScot has come in the last few years but believes that the organisation has a lot of important work to do in the years ahead. “Over the past year especially, MHScot has grown significantly and we are all very proud of the work we are doing to raise awareness of workplace mental health issues and provide solutions for employees and employers alike. Looking ahead, our aim is to continue the good work we are doing but also continue to grow the number of companies and organisations that are taking real steps to improve wellbeing and mental health in their workforce. As well as training staff to become Mental Health First Aiders, MHScot can also help companies develop a framework and strategy that develops and supports a healthy workplace in the long-term, looking at the culture of the organisation and putting emotions at the heart of wellbeing.” “Right now, however, our primary aim is to get as many people as possible trained and qualified in Mental Health First Aid so that we can support one another in positive ways and do our bit towards building a healthier and more productive Scotland.”