We at Gregor take this subject very seriously – we feel now more than ever, it’s crucial to talk about mental health. Our mental well-being is just as important as our physical health, yet it’s still often overlooked or dismissed.

This week serves as a reminder that it’s okay not to be okay and that seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Whether you’re struggling with stress, anxiety, depression, or any other mental health challenge, know that you’re not alone.

Taking care of our mental health isn’t just about addressing issues when they arise; it’s also about building resilience and building healthy habits that support our well-being every day.

The theme of this year’s week is ‘movement’, and we have just the person to talk about this.

Shaun has been our contracts manager for 13 years, he loves exercise and a challenge and has been running half marathons and taking part in triathlons for many years. In just five weeks, on 16^th June he’s taking part in his first Iron Man event which he’s been training for the last 18 months.

Here’s what Shaun has to say about mental health and movement.

“Doing exercise helps with stress, mental health, everything. Whether it’s running, swimming or cycling. I’ve always done exercise – but when my kids were young I didn’t do it as often. Then I found the stress of work and parenting etc crept up on me so I got back into it again. Even when I am not training for an event I exercise – for me it’s like maintenance and a release. It’s something I do for myself, and I try to encourage everyone to do it, especially my work colleagues and kids.

Leading up to this event I do about eight training sessions a week, sometimes twice a day and I always make sure I have rest days. I love a challenge and the Iron Man is something I always wanted to do. If I can do this – I feel as though I can do anything!”

We asked Shaun the one thing he would tell anyone if they were thinking of introducing more exercise into their lives:

“Find like-minded people – don’t do it by yourself because it’s not as much fun. When you are there with people there is consistency, they encourage you, and you have accountability. If you say you’ll meet someone at 7am for a run – you have to be there and they will be there too.”

How Gregor promotes more movement during the workday

Prioritizing mental health isn’t just crucial in the workplace, but it significantly impacts overall well-being. This year, the focus on movement deeply resonated with us at Gregor, both personally and professionally. Many of our team members engage in various sports activities outside of work, whether it’s football, tennis, or hitting the gym. We frequently hear them echoing Shaun’s sentiments about the benefits of staying active.

To further  promote movement during the workday, not only do we have the cycle to work scheme in place, we also introduced a table tennis setup in the office, which has been a tremendous success during lunch breaks not just for movement but for the social aspect it brings as well. Beyond our workplace, we believe in supporting the community’s access to recreational activities. Over the years, we’ve actively contributed to local sports and community clubs and will continue to promote exercise, movement and good mental health. You can find out more about Mental health Awareness Week here.

The post How Gregor Supports Movement & Mental Well-Being in the Workplace. appeared first on Gregor Heating, Electrical & Renewable Energy.

1 in 4 people in the workplace suffer from mental health issues at any one time.

On top of that, a recent report showed that UK workers are taking nearly four days off a year on average for mental health reasons, but more than half who do report the cause as physical illness. People are too scared to share what is really going on.

Here are Gregor Heating, we believe that people should not suffer alone and that employers everywhere have a responsibility to their employees to do what they can to help them.  

This is why as a company we have chosen to support MIND, the mental health charity, as our charity of the year for 2019/20.

George Bloor, 24 (pictured) is one of Gregor’s apprentice success stories. He worked with us for four years and qualified in 2018 as a gas safe engineer.  George is now taking a career break and currently travelling around Australia, however he kindly agreed to share his story about how suffering from post-traumatic stress affected him and how the help he received allowed him to get back on the right track.

One day in March 2017, George’s life completely changed when he was caught in the middle of the Westminster Bridge attack which saw over 50 people injured and four people killed.

He says:

“I have lived quite a sheltered life and not had to cope with too many stresses and strains so when I was caught up in a terrorist attack, in the days and weeks afterwards I just thought I could deal with it.

 “Guilty of burying my head in the sand, I tried to keep my head down avoiding any talk of what had happened assuming it would all just go away. But then I started feeling swamped. I was not sleeping, I was tired, I couldn’t leave the house. I found every excuse in the book I could to not to come to work. I realise how ill I had become.

 “It took the kindness and compassion of my bosses to make me finally see sense. They called me in and asked me what they could do to help, that it was clear I was struggling and whatever help I needed was there. My family love me unconditionally but they were too close. Whatever they tried to say or do feel on deaf ears but having my boss show compassion and concern finally made me realise the mess I was in. 

 “With Gregor’s support, slowly I managed to get my life back. Working part time hours, I went to see a doctor and found someone to talk to, to realise I did not need to go through this on my own that I could open up allowed me to process the thoughts and feelings I had.

 “I have always wanted to travel so one of the decisions I made once I started to get back on my feet was to do just that. I genuinely believe I would not have got here without the kindness and support show by the company. There were no expectations, no pressure, just support and gentle encouragement. I have had the best time working here, learned so much about work and life and will always be grateful for the opportunities I’ve had I could not have wished to have worked for a better company. I start a new chapter of my life with new hope ahead.

 “For anyone struggling, no matter how hard, the support is there. I’m an example of that. Please don’t feel you need to struggle alone. What I have learned is that you just need to reach out – you will find that someone is always willing to listen.”

Thanks again to George for sharing his story.

MIND have lots of useful resources available. For more information visit www.mind.org.uk

The post Real Life Story: Supporting mental health issues in the workplace appeared first on Gregor Heating, Electrical & Renewable Energy.