Supporting our mental health supports the students mental health.
P.S. don't forget to send all those Christmas cards.
When it comes to priorities the students mental health is up there at the top of the list, however for the staff to support our students then our own mental health must be supported too.
Now winter is always a difficult time for many, the pressures of the festive season, buying presents/affording presents, seeing family, trying really hard to not forget to send a Christmas card to anyone, and then there is the weather and the few hours of daylight each day. I for one have worked in environments where the only daylight you see in your working day is through a tiny little window at the back of an office, but at Running Deer we are fortunate.
We are fortunate to be working outdoors, surrounded by nature, even in Winter the woods is teeming with life, even on the coldest days (and they do get rather chilly) or the wettest days (waterproofs soon become a part of the uniform) we can still enjoy the light.
I personally am lucky enough to enjoy watching the sunrise (sometimes) as I drive in to work from my new home down in Cornwall, and seeing the new days sun shine down over the moors as I cross the border and trundle along the A30 certainly helps set me up for a new day.
Beyond this though there are more tangible efforts made by Running Deer and those in charge. No one is off limits, if you need to talk someone will always listen, counselling is offered with someone trained and experienced (in both counselling itself and in the Running Deer experience). Speaking personally, I feel listened to and cared about, two things that should happen in any work place but is not always the case.
Even the small and relatively insignificant text when you have had to take a day off due to being ill to make sure you are ok, it makes the world of difference, and again speaking personally is not something I have had before, in fact in some places quite the opposite.
So what do all these things do? Well they help us help them, if we are feeling resilient then we are much more able to be understanding, supportive and ultimately effective at what we do, and this in turn means the students get the best experience they can.
So kudos Running Deer, let's hope other companies and businesses start thinking the same.
Oh, and P.S. don't forget to send all those Christmas cards.
