Mental health workplace pilot scheme adds University of Lincoln to its list of businesses benefitting from better mental health help

A mental health pilot scheme that delivers free coffee and mental health guidance to employees is working with three businesses and for a limited time, offering the chance for more South Holland businesses to be involved at no cost.

Coffee & Company, a mental health pilot scheme by charity HWLincs, has the potential to reach more than 300 employees across its three partnerships with Crowland Pharmacy, Moulton Bulb Company and the University of Lincoln National Centre for National Centre for Food Manufacturing in Holbeach. The free scheme is still open to other South Lincolnshire businesses interested in helping to improve the mental health of their workforce.

Developed in association with Shine mental health charity and Lincolnshire County Council, Coffee & Company meets a need that was identified during HWLincs’ suicide prevention project, A Better Way.

“A barrier to people finding and following up help we often heard was the idea that people can’t take time off work to seek help,” said Tom Cassidy, Project Officer for Coffee & Company. “So we’re going to them. With the blessing of the thoughtful management teams, we are visiting workplaces to try to improve the mental health of people in South Lincolnshire.”

Guidance given at Coffee & Company sessions is wide-ranging. Signposting is available for services or groups that tackle everything from workplace issues to loneliness, debt, stress and more, as well as local community activities. If people are feeling better outside of work, they will feel better in work. “The idea of leaving your personal life at the door when you go into work is an impossible ask that is thankfully being relegated to the 20th century. If someone’s having a tough time they will carry that with them everywhere they go. We’re here to try to help find a way for people to reduce those problems and leave our conversation with a coffee and an idea of how they might be able to move forward,” Tom said.

Coffee & Company currently offers three sessions in which the team will set up at the workplace and chat with any employees who want to talk. After listening to their concerns over a coffee, the team member will then share a personalised list of services or groups they can use to help to improve their mental health and happiness. Multiple sessions allow for follow-up conversations.

To discuss signing up, email tom@hwlincs.co.uk