Mental Health Awareness Week – OSB Group leads the way with colleague support

As a leading specialist lender in the UK, OSB Group understands the importance of nurturing a diverse, equal and inclusive environment for colleagues, customers and the communities around them.

One year on from the launch of OSB Group’s initial Mental Health support programme for colleagues, there are now 38 qualified Mental Health First Aiders spread across their locations.

This week marks the annual Mental Health Awareness Week running from 15th to 21st May 2023 with this year’s theme centred on the impact of the cost of living crisis on people’s mental health. The 38 strong team of volunteer Mental Health First Aiders are on hand to listen without judgement and signpost available support via both professional and charitable organisations.

Running alongside this hands on support, are a variety of courses that colleagues can sign up to and range from ‘Every Mind Matters’, ‘Stress Management Techniques’ and ‘Wellness Action Plans’.

As the increased cost of living continues, OSB Group recognises the financial impact this may have on colleagues and has allocated an additional cost of living payment to all staff beneath senior management level again in 2023. Internal webinars have also been developed to help colleagues with budgeting and highlight everyday hacks that could help reduce costs.

Jon Hall, Group Managing Director, Mortgages and Savings, OSB Group said “Mental Health Awareness Week is a great opportunity to highlight available support and encourage conversations to flow but it’s also important to ensure our colleagues feel supported all year round as they are the key to our success at OSB Group and their health and wellbeing is a central focus. Helping colleagues when they need it most is critical and I am extremely proud of the range of support OSB Group offers.

Our Mental Health First Aiders programme goes from strength to strength with colleagues volunteering their time to help others, our People Development team are keeping everyone updated through their informative webinars and our Executive Team have been able to support cost of living payments for a second year.”

It’s an excellent collaborative approach and we know that good mental health also helps contribute towards more positive interactions, whether it’s with colleagues, customers or within our local communities, so it’s a really vital part of our company culture.”