The Usdaw Lifelong Learning project, funded through the Union Learning Fund, has been successfully working with employers across the North West to increase awareness of mental health issues at work.

Usdaw’s campaign to tackle the issues of poor mental health is having great success in the North West Division. Usdaw rep teams of ULRs and union reps are working together with Area Organisers and the Learning Project Workers to set up a range of projects in Retail, Food Manufacturing and Warehouse and Distribution sites. 

Ikea Warrington have delivered the Mental Health Awareness course to 25 of their managers in 2019 and are planning to roll this course out to a further 60 colleagues.  In addition, they have requested for 30 Mental Health First Aiders to be trained across 2 courses.

In the last quarter, two newly engaged Morrisons sites, Worsley and Colne (Food Manufacturing sites) have been the latest workplaces to deliver a six-hour Mental Health Awareness session to its staff.  Further courses are being delivered at Tesco Widnes and DHL Stoke (Distribution sites), filling large class sizes with both managers and colleagues.

Tesco Distribution are also planning to recruit 16 Mental Health First Aiders across their two North West sites, Widnes and the sister company, Oakwood Distribution. 

Usdaw’s North West Project Worker Julia Baldwin said:

We are continuing to receive further requests for more sessions along with a progression pathway for staff to learn more about the topic and also become Mental Health First Aiders.”

Working closely with Manchester Trade Union Education Unit, Julia has been able to respond to all requests for courses, securing tutor availability and assigning dates to workplaces. 

Julia said:

We have developed an excellent relationship and this has helped ensure a consistent course offer to our members and colleagues."

Julia has also been able to secure additional progression courses via NCFE Distance Learning Level 2 courses from Warrington Vale Royal College, Shrewsbury College and Wigan and Leigh College.

Julia said:

Working with all of these providers ensures that we have access to the relevant funding across the whole of the North West region”.

Plans are in place to engage more and more employers. These include, Arla Foods Oswestry and Next Distribution Warrington whilst continuing to support the future requests from Retail stores and established Learning Centres, including rep seminars due to take place in the Division.

Julia summed up:

The work that we have done around mental health is a great example of how reps can bring together two Usdaw campaigns to deliver much more than each could deliver on its own, and this benefits our members and the employers they work for.”

TUC Education has produced a Mental Health and the workplace workbook for workplace reps which helps to explain what they can do to support those in the workplace with mental health problems.