Roma Finance has announced the development of its mental health first aid team.

Mental health awareness week is a focal point for raising mindfulness of external factors that can impact mental health. However, Roma says mental health support should not be limited to this one week and that it must remain a crucial component at all times.

Physical and mental health is priority one at Roma and the business encourages employees to take a step back if they’re dealing with something that’s impacting their mental health. Six mental health first aiders, James Edwards, Lisa Toner, Olivia Openshaw, Katie Murphy, Jenny Gillies and Tina Parry have been trained with the purpose of proactively supporting colleagues and giving them the confidence to speak out if they need help with anything at work or behind the scenes.

In addition, Roma is now running the Employee Assistance Program, which gives people the chance to speak to someone in confidence and receive free counselling if they wish.

Jenny Gillies, people and change assistant, said: “As a mental health first aider, I strongly believe in prioritising mental health in the workplace, especially since the wake of COVID-19. From an HR perspective, it’s essential to support colleagues in improving their overall wellbeing, increasing engagement and job satisfaction, also, when it comes to attracting new talent, people are prioritising companies that are open and forward-thinking when it comes to mental health.”

James Edwards, underwriting team leader, added: “We created the mental health first aiders as a focal point for mental health awareness. Our aim is to remove the stigma associated with mental and physical health to promote a caring culture within the company. We work in a fast paced and often demanding industry, but people also have fast paced and stressful lives.

“Roma has a culture of support and understanding and it is great to see the business investing and making mental health a priority. Healthy minds = Healthy workforce.”