The Conveyancing Foundation has held the second webinar in its ‘Be Kind We Care’ initiative.
The charity welcomed six speakers including Richard Carter, managing partner of Martin Tolhurst, Angelo Piccirillo, co-founder of AVRillo, Reagan Bradley, operations director of Paramount Properties and Lloyd Davies, managing director of Convey Law.
Georgia Davies from The Conveyancing Foundation said the launch of Be Kind We Care to encourage kindness to fellow professionals had been triggered by the pandemic and Stamp Duty holiday but its principles were continually relevant.
“We were desperate to promote mental health and wellbeing in the legal, property and conveyancing sectors and also provide the best practical guidance. Our first webinar focused on stress management tips and now we would like to share best practice from organisations who are trying to promote mental health and wellbeing,” she said.
At Martin Tolhurst, Richard Carter said a twin approach of informal Mental Health Champions throughout the firm’s five locations combined with a professional healthcare service which gave staff access not only to physical healthcare but also to mental health counselling, costing around £11 per member of staff per month, worked very well.
He said: “About 3-4 years ago, we became more aware of issues facing our people from outside work and affecting their daily lives and we decided to go down the mental first aiders route.”
The company asked for volunteers and now has around one trained Mental Health Champion for every ten people at the practice.
He explained: “In the main, they tend not to be partners because people don’t necessarily want to talk to their line managers about mental health. Also, staff do not have to approach a Mental Health Champion in their own office if they don’t want to.
“Obviously, the service is confidential but from our quarterly meet-ups, we do know that some champions are talking to 2-3 people a week and usually have around 10-12 in their ‘flock’. The over 35s are less likely to come forward but it does flow when they do as they may have bottled things up, while the under 35s are more likely to talk.”
Lloyd Davies, also Chairman of the Conveyancing Foundation, said Convey Law had introduced a one-to-one confidential counselling service to the workplace three years’ ago which had been very successful.
He added: “It is alright to say ‘I am struggling a bit and I need help’. Problems are not always capacity and work pressure related. People have individual problems which are often deep-rooted such as anxiety and it helps to discuss these wider problems confidentially. Employers are not trained to help with them. We have found a professional coming in or being available on Zoom has worked wonders.”
