Page 14 - the SyI Quarterly 15

Know your Institute
Know your Institute

Mental Health Awareness Month

- A Front line Reflection

- By Dominic Chandler MSyI

May was a month that not only marked Mental Health Awareness
Week, but also saw two important events within our industry
take place, both aimed at raising awareness for mental health.
May 18th was ‘Mental Health: Security’s Invisible Enemy’ seminar
with Corps Security, Combat Stress: The UK’s Leading Charity for
Veterans’ Mental Health and Security Minds Matter.
May 22nd saw the Institute’s very own event, ‘United Together:
Let’s Talk about Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Security
Sector’ at the Shard. The event hosted by the Security Institute
was kindly hosted by Emma Shaw CSyP FSyI of Mitie. Not only was
the event held in such a great, iconic building, despite difficulties
in exiting London Bridge Station, but it was also a first for me,
with me publicly speaking of my own struggles. This was not an
easy task, especially with a stammer, but nonetheless, I am glad
that I managed to do it.

Will I speak again at another event? Who knows? But a big thank
you goes to Emma, Angela Vernon-Lawson CSyP FSyI, from the
Security Institute, Sarah Austerberry CSyP FSyI, Institute Director,
Vicki Vidler, Founder, Consortium Prevention of Suicide, Michelle
Russell, CEO, SIA, and all the other great organisations and the
other speakers who shared their stories that day.

Three days prior to ‘United Together: Let’s Talk about Mental
Health and Wellbeing in the Security Sector’ on May 19th,
Institute member and owner of PCR Global, Andrew Protheroe
MSyI reached out to me on LinkedIn with an offer to attend
the IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing course,
something I never considered before, and therefore did some
further reading around what the course entails. The course is
designed for managers and supervisors working in any sector
and organisation. They will learn to use tools and techniques to
improve health and well-being across their organisations, and
whilst they won’t suddenly become experts in health and well-
being, it will help them develop their managerial skills, and help
to improve the health and well-being of an organisation’s most
important asset - its employees.

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