World Mental Health Day 2022

Each year on 10 October, we celebrate World Mental Health Day (WMHD) – a programme that was first started by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) 30 years ago in 1992. This year’s theme is ‘making mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority’, encouraging everyone to take the opportunity to ask ourselves what we can do to make mental health our number one priority and to embrace the factors that are within our own power to start doing, stop doing or change something that will support our mental health. Find out more about your circle of control here.

How are we marking World Mental Health Day at OAS?

At OAS, we’re taking the opportunity to reflect on the importance of good mental health and to raise awareness of the mental health support that we offer to all our learners and colleagues. An apprentice who has graduated from our programme will be returning to the centre to talk to current learners and colleagues about his experiences as a Mental Health First Aider. Together, we’ll be exploring how to recognise stress, how talk about mental health effectively, and how to start what can sometimes feel like difficult conversations, as well as running mental health drop-in sessions where everyone is welcome to pop in for advice, ask a question or just have a cup of tea and a chat.

Supporting mental health is part of our commitment to welcoming all forms of diversity, and ensuring that everyone is supported to fulfil their potential. For any organisation aiming to grow its community’s diversity, it is essential to make sure this is happening within an inclusive culture. An inclusive approach helps to create a psychologically safe space where everyone feels free to be their true and authentic selves without stress, fear or anxiety which could otherwise lead to further challenges.

We’re already making mental health a priority every day

Mental health is a key priority within the OAS Access and Awareness Project, and we’ve partnered with Oxfordshire Mind to help us build on and improve the support we offer:

Our fantastic team of OAS Wellbeing Champions are fully trained Mental Health First Aiders. They’re always on hand to provide confidential one-to-one support to our learners and colleagues, as well as holding regular Wellbeing Coffee Catch-Ups where anyone is welcome to drop-in and check-in.
Our Occupational Health Advisor is available to support any wellbeing queries, including mental health, and we have a centrally published list of mental health resources within our Information Advice and Guidance packs for any learners and colleagues who prefer to seek external help independently.
The OAS Safeguarding Team assists learner wellbeing concerns, and we offer personal mentors to learners who may be struggling with challenges including mental health issues during their learning journey.
For our colleagues, our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) offers 24/7 access to a comprehensive resource library of audio blogs, articles, toolkits and vlogs around lots of different topics, as well as a telephone counselling service.
We also provide learning needs and wellbeing risk assessments, with supporting adjustments such as time out cards and personal mentors, as well as signposting information, advice, guidance, and support.
Our ambitious enrichment programme includes a focus on Mental Health. We run regular sessions with mental health experts focusing on topics such as how to improve mental health resilience.

Find out more

For more information about World Mental Health Day 2021, you can visit https://mentalhealth-uk.org/get-involved/mental-health-awareness-days/world-mental-health-day-2022/.

If you’re looking for further information or support with mental health issues, you can visit websites including Mind, Samaritans, Childline and Remploy.