MENTAL health charity Lancashire Mind has announced its keynote speakers for this year’s workplace wellbeing conference. It will be the charity’s fourth workplace wellbeing conference and will for the first time be held virtually, on Thursday, February 4.

‘Time to Talk About Wellbeing at Work’ will aim to enable employers to share good practice and learn new strategies to improve emotional wellbeing in the workplace. The conference supports Time to Change’s national campaign ‘Time to Talk Day’ that aims to tackle stigma and discrimination around mental health in the workplace.

Zac Wilde, training quality coordinator at Lancashire Mind, said: “We have always managed to attract fantastic speakers for our conference and this year is no exception. We have some of the leading speakers in their field who will be passing on their valuable knowledge and insight to the attendees.

“As the conference is virtual this year it is even more accessible to businesses and organisations, no matter their size, and we’d encourage anyone who is interested to sign up as soon as possible to guarantee a place.”

The speakers this year are Emma Mamo, head of Workplace Wellbeing at national Mind, who has led Mind’s national campaigning for mentally healthy workplaces and played a pivotal role in positioning mental health in the workplace as a key priority for employers and Government.

Ama Afrifa-Tchie, head of culture and wellbeing for Mental Health First Aid England, whose specialisms span across people experience, workplace culture, diversity and inclusion, mental health and wellbeing and corporate responsibility.

Jamie Compton-Rea, head of business development for the National Centre for Suicide Prevention Education and Training, whose passion is prevention and intervention around substance misuse and suicide.

Jo Smith, Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust’s health and wellbeing strategic lead, whose areas of expertise are public health, behaviour change and leadership.

The conference aims to help organisations learn from other employers about their experience of supporting their workforce and introduce a range of organisations who can provide support and assistance to give employers the confidence to make change in their own organisations.

Lancashire Mind delivers training to businesses and organisations and had to quickly adapt delivery methods when the country went into the first lockdown in 2020. Since then, it has been able to deliver workshops and training virtually to hundreds of learners, whilst also producing downloadable workplace packs for employers and employees.

Tommy McIlravey, CEO of Lancashire Mind said: “It’s incredibly important for us as an organisation to be able to adapt our services to ensure we can continue to offer the support that businesses need. We hope that events, such as our annual Workplace Wellbeing Conference, will give businesses yet another form of support.”

Karen Arrowsmith, training lead at Lancashire Mind added: “To have such high calibre speakers, all of whom are passionate about their particular fields and workplace wellbeing and mental health generally, is testament to the importance of mental health in the workplace, now more than ever.

“The pandemic has had an impact on all our lives and employers and businesses can play a key role in helping to maintain the mental health and wellbeing of their workforce.”

For further information on the conference and to book a place visit https://bit.ly/workconf2021