Mental Health Awareness Week takes place in May each year. It is a time when we are encouraged to talk openly about mental health, raise awareness, and educate ourselves on topics such as mental illness, wellbeing, the effects of stress, and much more.

This year the theme was loneliness. Did you know that one in four adults experience loneliness either some, or all of the time? Loneliness affects everyone differently and there’s no single cause or solution, but it can increase our chances of developing mental illnesses.

This May at Dambuster, we put on a range of different activities and initiatives for the whole Team to get involved with. Here they are.

Guest Speaker: Kathy Rolington – Nutrition and Wellbeing

Kathy is a qualified person-centred counsellor with over 15 years of clinical experience. She helps individuals with many aspects of their wellbeing, such as self-care, work-life-family balance, fitness, wellness, and counselling.

Kathy joined us on Monday the 9th and delivered an hour-long lecture on nutrition and its role in our mental health and wellbeing. The talk was very insightful and highlighted the various food groups that are linked to both physical and psychological wellbeing. Kathy discussed how we can make sure that we are getting the correct type of nutrition, while still enjoying food.

Baking Competition and Coffee Break for Safe in Our World

We held a weeklong bake sale during Mental Health Awareness Week, with all the profits going towards Safe In Our World. If you don’t know who they are, SIOW is a charity that works to improve the mental health and wellbeing of gamers and those working in the games industry; check them out here.

We had some fantastic entries, including M&M loaded cookies, gooey brownies, Ma Lai Go, and even a chocolate avocado cake!

On Wednesday 11th, there was a shared coffee and cake break to enjoy all the delicious treats together and have a chin wag. We also asked the Team to vote for their favourite bake with a prize on offer for whoever got the most votes. The winner was Kyle's chocolate avacado cake, which you can see below!

New Starter Lunch

During the week, we took a group of some of our newest starters out for lunch to help them meet more people in the studio. As well as newer recruits, some Dambuster veterans joined too, so that our new starters had the chance to bond with and speak to some of the longer serving team members. In total, 14 Dambusters headed to Annie’s Burger Shack for, you guessed it, burgers!

Photography Competition

Last year, we ran a photography competition, which involved our Dambusters snapping the most interesting picture they could during a walk outside to get some fresh air and exercise. With the theme of this year’s MHAW being loneliness, we decided that for the photography competition this time around, we wanted to see images that reflect peoples’ idea of togetherness. We had some brilliant entries, but you can see the winning photo captured by Dan below!

Guest Speaker: Kate Jackson of Wellbeing Therapy Solutions – Preventing Work-Related Stress

Kate Jackson is an independent occupational therapist. She has worked in mental health services in the NHS, as a lecturer in higher education, and as a clinical lead occupational therapist in a hospice setting. Kate joined us for Mental Health Awareness Week 2021, when she delivered talks about mindfulness, sleep, reducing stress, and having wellbeing conversations.

This year, Kate gave a talk all about work-related stress. The discussion covered how to spot the signs of work-related stress in ourselves and our colleagues, the long-term impact it can have on both our mental and physical health, and what we can do to mitigate it.

More Than Just a Week or a Month

It’s great to shine a light on mental health and wellbeing during Mental Health Awareness Week, but it’s important to keep conversations alive all year round. At Deep Silver Dambuster Studios, we are working to make sure this happens. The Wellbeing Committee is an internal working group that comprises eight employees from various departments and levels of seniority.

They work on initiatives to help improve the mental health and wellbeing support on offer in the studio. They are also all qualified mental health first aiders and are always available to talk to, should anyone at Dambuster need to do so. You can learn more about the Wellbeing Committee here..