Mental Health Awareness Week 2022
This week (9th – 15th May) is Mental Health Awareness Week, an annual campaign that encourages people across the UK to openly discuss mental health and support one another. This year, the theme is ‘loneliness’ – which can be both a cause and product of poor mental health – and people are being encouraged to reach out to their family, friends, colleagues and communities to support, connect with and uplift one another. You can find out more about this year’s theme on the Mental Health Foundation’s website.
We at the York & North Yorkshire LEP and Growth Hub are using Mental Health Awareness Week as a way to connect with each other and combat the loneliness we can sometimes feel when working from home. We’re challenging each other to meet face-to-face as much as possible and make room on our agendas to grab a cuppa and get together for some social time. We’re also encouraging our team to reach out and talk with colleagues they don’t know well, so we can all get to know each other a bit more. Finally, we’re making mental health awareness training accessible to the team and pointing everyone to mental health resources and support.
We’re hoping to build more connections across our team and promote open discussions, and we encourage you to spread awareness and support through your workplace as well!
Below are some resources from our website that can help you think about mental health and how you can support both yourself and others in the workplace.
Mental Health & Wellbeing Toolkit
Our Mental Health & Wellbeing Toolkit is free to download and can help answer your questions about workplace wellbeing. The toolkit includes a range of practical resources that can help both you and your employees.
With the guide, you’ll learn:
- What is meant by ‘mental health’?
- Business owners’ legal responsibilities around mental health
- What to do if you are worried about a staff member
- How to avoid creating mental health problems in the workplace
- How to manage your own mental health
On-demand wellbeing webinars
We have a wide range of webinars available on-demand for you to watch, including our new wellbeing playlist. The playlist is free to access and contains hours of content covering mental health, wellbeing and supporting your colleagues and employees.
Topics include:
- Employee wellness and engagement
- Maintaining positive mental health and wellbeing in difficult times
- Supporting the return to work
- Building resilience and supporting team wellbeing
- Plus more
Watch our playlist now with this link.
We also have individual webinars available for you to watch, which cover a variety of topics from wellbeing to leadership and building connections and resiliency across your team. All of our on-demand webinars can be found here.
Tips for creating a happier workforce
One misconception is that keeping employees happy at work is expensive, but you can create a more positive workplace by ensuring your employees feel valued and connected using inexpensive means. Our blog offers you some simple ideas to support your staff and create a happier, more productive and supportive workforce.
Connect with mental health support, training and programmes
Programmes exist to help you support employees who are experiencing mental health challenges and create inclusive workplaces.
Thriving at Work is a project that aims to support people to unlock their potential at work. The project can help you to create an inclusive workplace, and offers specialist coaching, training, webinars and 1-to-1 support. The project not only aims to support people with mental health challenges, but also offers training to help you support neurodiverse and disabled staff to thrive at work too. All support is free to access.
The Skills Support for the Workforce programme offers a range of free training, which includes support around mental health awareness, mental health first aid, promoting equality and diversity in the workplace and more. Skills training is also proven to make employees feel valued, improve productivity and confidence, and encourages teamwork. Skills Support for the Workforce offers training across York and North Yorkshire, for all sectors.
Act now. 864,000 sole traders and landlords face new tax rules in two months
From 6 April 2026, those eligible will need to use recognised software to keep digital records and send HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) light-touch quarterly updates of their income and expenses. These are not extra tax returns.
Innovation Supper - Apply to Pitch
York Business School, Patch York and the York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub are delighted to bring you a special edition of Innovation Supper. As part of this year's International Women's Day, we are inviting female entrepreneurs to apply to pitch their business.
Expression of Interest: Mentoring for Growth Programme
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XR Stories supports creative technology skills development
A new training programme from the XR Stories project at the University of York is offering people in York and North Yorkshire the opportunity to develop skills in creative technology.
Business.gov.uk | National Support
We know that the national and global business environment is changing faster than ever. Which is why we understand that rapid access to the right business support and networks is vital to help you operate and grow with confidence. Every business, whether small or large should create an account.
PR Media Workshop: How to Tell Your Story in the Media
In a fast-paced digital world, PR is arguably the most cost-effective, high impact way to build trust, raise profile and increase footfall. This hands-on 3-hour ‘boot camp’ is designed to empower you to understand what makes a story, how best to tell it, and how to master media relations.
Mayor Launches £2.5million Great Ideas Fund
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Steps into Digital: Digital Marketing Mastery - Scarborough
The Digital Marketing Mastery series is back by popular demand, hosted at Scarborough Rugby Club, and led by Katie Thompson, founder of content marketing service Katie Lingo. This three-part weekly workshop series is ideal for business owners and brand marketers who want to strengthen their online presence. Participants will learn practical strategies to improve search engine rankings while creating a seamless, user-friendly experience that attracts and converts customers.
Digital Marketing 2-Day Workshops
This in-person, 2-day course is designed to equip businesses in York & North Yorkshire with the essential digital marketing skills they need to feel more confident and grow. Coming to Richmond, Thirsk, York and Bentham.
5.65 million still to file as the Self Assessment deadline looms
Customers can start their tax return, save it and re-visit it as many times as they need to before they submit it. And, once they’ve sent it, the bill doesn’t have to be paid straight away, but does need to be paid before the 31 January deadline. The easiest way to pay is through the HMRC app. Customers can also set up notifications in the app to ensure they know when payments are due so they don’t miss a deadline.
Step into Meta for Business: Webinar Series
Unlock the power of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram with three action packed workshops. Come to all three to find out where to start and how to boost your organic, paid and sales growth on these enormous platforms, or pick and choose topics to suit your business. We’ve gathered a team of highly experienced and qualified Meta experts to help you get the most out of using Meta for your Business.
Set Up for Success with Google Business Tools: Lunch & Learn Webinar Series
This series will explore the free tools available from Google to help small businesses increase their online presence. Plus, you’ll learn how to leverage Google’s paid advertising platform for scalable growth without feeling like you are just wasting money. Participants will leave feeling confident to start using Google Tools to Improve their visibility, generate leads and make more sales online.