Rob is our Fire Safety Contracts Surveyor and one of our Group Wellbeing Champions and Mental Health First Aiders.

In this blog for Time To Talk Day, he reflects on the power of conversation.

Rob says: "I recently trained up as a Wellbeing Champion and undertook additional training in Mental Health First Aid, followed by a training session on Supportive Conversations.

"I had wanted to attend this training for quite a while, so I jumped at the opportunity to get involved. As I am quite a social person (most of the time), I figured that the session on Supportive Conversations would, in particular, help build on skills I already consider myself to have. The training contained multiple case studies and tips on how to initiate a difficult conversation and how you could potentially deal with someone who is not having the best time, along with tips and further resources to signpost colleagues/friends for assistance.

"Over the last couple of years, I have personally dealt with the loss of family members, a child with identity issues, and some other difficult situations. This course has also given me further tips and guidance on how to approach these situations in the future.

"The main thing I took away from the training was to listen more and ask open questions! Also, to resist the urge to try and resolve things for someone – unless someone has asked you for advice or you’ve checked that is what they want, it is better to hear them out and let them explore their feelings and ideas.

"Now, as a Wellbeing Champion, I am always available to help talk to our colleagues." 


- Rob

 

The Time To Talk campaign

Time to Talk Day is the nation’s biggest mental health conversation. An annual campaign, it’s a day for friends, families, communities, and workplaces to come together to talk, listen and change lives.

However, this is about more than giving this conversation space on just one day a year. As the Time to Talk campaign notes, the more conversations we have, the better life is for everyone. Talking about mental health isn’t always easy, but a conversation can have the power to change lives.