Mental health is something Work and Wear Direct take very seriously – the wellbeing of our colleagues is of utmost importance to us.

October 10th marks World Mental Health Day, dedicated to shining a light on how we can work together to improve mental health both at home and in the work environment.

Here, Work and Wear Direct’s Managing Director, Ricky Ellis, speaks about why mental health is such an important issue and how the company supports its staff to remain in good mental health.

Mental health is an issue I care deeply about – it’s really important to me that our staff are happy at work and in an environment where they feel valued.

I have my own experiences of people I know struggling with their mental health so have seen first-hand how difficult it can be for them.

It’s a subject very close to my heart.

I grew up on building sites and have come through the ranks to now own my own business, but times were different then.

If you had said you were struggling with your mental health years ago people would have laughed and told you to ‘man up’ and push through it.

Thankfully, it’s taken much more seriously now by both businesses and society in general, which is great.

At Work and Wear Direct, we want to cultivate a company culture and environment our colleagues can thrive in, and their mental wellbeing is paramount to that.

We want them to look forward to coming into the office and enjoy their time at work.

I remember that feeling on a Sunday evening thinking ‘I’ve got to go to work tomorrow but can’t face it’.

I don’t want any of my colleagues to get that ‘Sunday dread’, I want to build a company where people are eager to come to work and feel a sense of belonging.

At Work and Wear Direct we want our colleagues to feel comfortable in speaking about their mental health, to share if they are worried about anything and ask for support if they need it.

Much of it is about keeping an eye out for people, finding out how they are doing or if anything is bothering them and then seeing where we can help.

It’s a fine line though, as you want to help people but they may not want to reveal anything quite yet – you don’t want to pressure them and make things worse.

You just need to be mindful in your approach and get across that you are there if they need to talk.

We have 24 people in the building now and I try to visit and work in every department so I can stay in touch with them to chat and gauge how they are doing.

I try to keep my finger on the pulse, to know how people are doing and most importantly, to be there for them if they need to talk about anything.

You can’t truly know how people are feeling day-to-day, and they may not feel like sharing – it’s more about letting our colleagues know they can come to us for support and that their wellbeing is important to us.

Much of it is taking the stigma about talking about mental health, and days such as World Mental Health Day are a perfect stage to have those important conversations.