February 19, 2024

Maria Bezuszko, Step Forward Referral Coordinator, shares a personal update on a busy 2023, managing her mental health, and how the Step Forward in to Volunteering and Employment programme can support businesses address wellbeing in the workplace:

 

As I have taken on the challenge of 4 more working hours a week, I have reflected on a piece of writing I shared at the beginning of 2023. WOW! What a busy, productive, difficult, challenging, and enjoyable 2023 it has been for me at work.

For all the challenging moments there have been twice as many small wins to keep me stepping forward. Cumbria CVS and Step Forward into Volunteering and Employment have again stepped up and supported me. Their understanding of mental health and well-being at work reassures me all the time.

This forward-thinking, supportive, encouraging way to lead a workplace is a credit to everyone involved. It is wrong to use the phrase ‘from the top, down’ because as a company this doesn’t reflect the set-up. It is simply a team, and everyone is accountable to someone else. Still, this accountability does not come with added stresses and unachievable expectations – it comes with support to learn, develop, and succeed.

My mental health has taken the usual ups and downs that will always be present in my life. The way I have managed these changes has been a complete U-turn from previous years. In the past, I have kept quiet, stressed, struggled, and felt short of support so I have said I give up, it is impossible.

This year I have learned the value of saying help. The importance of sharing the load. The positive effect of change. None of this was possible before my volunteering and employment began. This isn’t a promo opportunity to share the success of Step Forward, this is a call to arms to all the businesses and organisations in our communities that have not yet addressed wellbeing in the workplace.

Something as simple as signing up to the Step Forward Mental Health Toolkit is a great place to start. Having an awareness and understanding of mental health and well-being in the workplace can provide you with a great starting point to put in place support which in turn, helps staff retention, whether volunteers or employees. It is not time-consuming, and it will not financially challenge the organisation. It is simply understanding more about mental health and well-being; giving you the confidence to provide a more supportive workplace. It may find reasonable adjustments that could be made, that could boost productivity for staff, and it could be an ability to provide volunteers with an introduction to a workplace that encourages learning and personal development. This could go on to boost an individual’s confidence and belief; they may develop aspirations to do something they previously thought wasn’t possible.

In summary, Cumbria CVS and the Step Forward have supported me in my route through volunteering and into employment. They have also developed useful resources addressing mental health and wellbeing to support organisations.

If you would like to know more about the Step Forward into Volunteering and Employment project in North Cumbria, please get in touch with us. It will be your first step forward and we can support you on the many more you will take.

Whether you would like us to support you or someone you know visit our web page here or send us an email at stepforward@cumbriacvs.org.uk Alternatively, you can call us on 01768 800350.

If you wish to access support for a workplace, organisation, or business you can sign up for our Newsletter and Mental Health Toolkit.