T


ravel W


eekly held a mental health


round-table discussion, with operators, agents and a mental health charity representative, sponsored by the AWTE. Natalie Marsh reports


Chris


O’Sullivan, Mental Health Foundation


Employers have a duty to A


few sobering statistics set the scene for Travel Weekly’s Mental Health Maters roundtable


discussion last week. Chris O’Sullivan, head of business


development and engagement at the Mental Health Foundation, said in any given week one in six people experience a mental health problem. In addition, 300,000 people in the


UK leave work due to mental health and 6,000 people commit suicide every year, with middle-aged men and young women among the most vulnerable. “A couple of years ago we did


an economic analysis of value added by people with mental health problems who are working. It’s about £226 billion a year, 12.1% GDP,” O’Sullivan said. He told the round-table the


mental health at work agenda is not just addressing employees


20 25 JULY 2019 The value [to the


economy] by people working with mental health problems is £226 billion a year


with problems but “creating an environment where people with mental health problems can thrive”. “It’s equally about addressing


the nature of work, whether that’s specific to an industry, or the work in general, to maximise and protect good mental health,” he added. Te scale of the UK’s mental


health problems is becoming more widely appreciated as younger generations and influencers challenge outdated stigmas. But what about in travel, a sector


that has the outward appearance of being a fun and happy place to work,


but has its fair share of stressful roles, based in offices, shops or at home oſten in disparate locations across the country and abroad? As one of the UK’s biggest


homeworking agencies, Travel Counsellors understands the responsibilities it has for its agents’ wellbeing, said Karen Morris, the firm’s operations director. “We’ve got 1,800 homeworkers,”


she explained. “If you think about it, they’ve oſten moved away from an office environment to, all of a sudden, working from home. “For some people, that can be a


real eye-opener, because they don’t have that social engagement anymore with their colleagues.” Meanwhile, for high street giant


Tui, having a workforce in hundreds of branches across the country can also prove difficult when tackling the challenges of employee wellbeing and mental health.


And given the high proportion of


women who work in travel retail, one specific issue high on the agenda is when employees return to work aſter maternity leave. Belinda Vazquez, Tui UK and


Ireland retail director, said: “It’s [about] making sure that when they come back to work, they’ve got the right support. Te fact that they are dispersed across the whole of the country does pose quite a geographical challenge. But for us, it’s about keeping it on the agenda.” Tere is another dimension to


travel that makes having a duty of care for employees’ mental wellbeing an even bigger challenge – when they are based abroad. Inghams’ parent Hotelplan has


hundreds of oſten young reps posted across the world either permanently or seasonally. Nicky Lyle, HR director, admited it’s a real challenge. “A lot of people go overseas to escape


travelweekly.co.uk


Karen Morris, Travel Counsellors

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