Edinburgh College helps support mental health of workers

Businesses are being offered vital support to help look after the mental health of staff.
Employers have a responsibility to provide an environment which is healthy for all of its workforce.Employers have a responsibility to provide an environment which is healthy for all of its workforce.
Employers have a responsibility to provide an environment which is healthy for all of its workforce.

Whether you have a team of 10, 100, or 10,000, it’s crucial that the welfare of a firm’s employees is a top priority at all levels across the business.

According to the Scottish Government, one in three people are affected by mental illness in any year and while not all cases are linked to the workplace employers do have a responsibility to provide an environment which is welcoming and healthy for all of its workforce.

To support its business partners to look after the mental health of their people, Edinburgh College has delivered 73 mental health training sessions in 2020, including 26 virtually throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when the majority of the nation’s workforce has been working remotely.

The College has developed unique courses to support companies and their employees during the transition to working from home.The College has developed unique courses to support companies and their employees during the transition to working from home.
The College has developed unique courses to support companies and their employees during the transition to working from home.

The College’s Mental Health training portfolio – which is currently being delivered online via Microsoft Teams, Moodle and Zoom – consists of a range of courses which can be tailored to meet the needs of clients.

The College has also developed unique courses to support companies and their employees during the sometimes difficult transition to working from home, which is set to become the norm for many people.

Edinburgh College helps Blackwood care for its people

Blackwood Homes and Care, which provides high-quality care and support services, as well as accessible and bespoke housing for people with a range of disabilities and housing needs, has benefitted from Mental Health and Resilience Training during the ongoing pandemic.

Blackwood approached Edinburgh College to discuss its training needs, and following consultation with the College’s expert trainers and its Training and Development team– has enrolled some of its employees on to Mental Health and Wellbeing Workshops.

The workshops, initially delivered in a traditional training setting, have been added to the College’s suite of Professional Virtual Training – with teaching carried out online.

The Blackwood team have benefitted from studying modules including: ‘Mental health and wellbeing, and our values and attitudes’; ‘What is stress and our values and attitudes to stress’; ‘Recognising the signs and symptoms of stress’; and ‘Techniques to provide initial support to ourselves and for others experiencing stress’.

Emma Scatterty, Digital Skills Trainer at Blackwood Homes and Care, said: “Edinburgh College’s Training and Development team have been fantastic to work with – they have always been responsive and happy to identify and source the best solutions for our training needs.

“The College and its trainers have been very quick to adapt to this new working environment, where many of our staff are at home. As a result, we have been able to continue offering online Mental Health and Wellbeing workshops to our employees, which have been very well received in these difficult times.

“Next, we are planning to run virtual versions of some of the College’s Digital Skills courses. This means we are able to continue to offer a wide training programme to employees in spite of current restrictions.”

Find out about Edinburgh College’s Virtual Training here.