The Exertis project that’s caring for mental health and the environment
While maintaining and improving our environment is an important goal within our sustainability mission, it’s also equally important for us to keep the mental health of our employees in the forefront of our discussions about making our business a better place to work.
The team at Exertis’ Burnley office have successfully combined these two initiatives in the form of Project Picnic – the mental health-positive space that’s doing good for the planet, too.
What is Project Picnic?
The sun shines brightly through the leaves of overhead trees. The wind sifts delicately through each leaf and blade of grass. Between the newly-installed wooden picnic tables winds a hand-dug path that connects each bench, punctuated by freshly planted trees that sway softly in the cool afternoon air. The peaceful scene looks like it’s pulled straight from a book – but this is the reality of the mental health and environment positive space created by the team at the Exertis Burnley office as part of Project Picnic.
Project Picnic was created to offer Burnley Exertis employees an area outside of the office where they can relax, eat lunch, socialise, and take some time away from the stress and busy atmosphere of work. The idea was born when Facilities Manager Karl Fleming noted that those employees who smoked often had a place to congregate to take short breaks and relax, but non-smokers did not.
Mental health positivity
When Karl initially made the Burnley team aware of Project Picnic and put a call out for volunteers, he caught the attention of Chris Whitter, who had a very special interest in the success of the project. As someone who had recently faced a tough struggle with mental health – which included taking time off from work – it was important to Chris that his co-workers in Burnley had a place that could benefit their mental wellbeing, and help de-stress from daily life.
Dealing with mental health
The commonly quoted statistic is that 1 in 4 people will struggle with their mental health or face mental illness. But there is an even greater number who don’t feel comfortable enough to come forward and share their thoughts – even with the people closest to them. For Chris, who took time off work to deal with his mental health, this was very much the case.
In the last couple of years, many of us have taken to working entirely from home, or hybrid working in the office. While this can be a convenient way to work for some, there also comes the risk of some others feeling isolated, or as though they cannot connect with people in the workplace as much as they would like to. With this in mind, it is important – now more than ever – that employees feel that they are heard, supported, and respected. Project Picnic is a physical representation of this idea – a people-driven programme to support one another, commissioned by Exertis.
“The physical activity took me to a place outside my thoughts. I feel this involvement worked well for me and gave me perspective. It helped me see I could still function and gave me a lot of satisfaction as to what we all, as a team, managed to achieve.” – Chris Whitter
Good for the planet, good for everyone
Project Picnic is a shining example of sustainability done right. Not only have the team at Burnley created an environmentally-friendly space with newly planted trees and space for plant life to grow, but they’ve worked together, as a team, to create a calm and relaxing environment where employees can go to escape the busy work day, spend time with friends, and take a deep breath. And since the team designed and carried out the building of the picnic area themselves, they all got to experience a workday that was a bit of a break from the usual.
It’s team-led initiatives like this that will be remembered as milestones, as DCC Group strives to provide the best working environment it can for our people.