Staffordshire Police Federation is hosting a wellbeing day for members and staff.
The event has been organised by branch wellbeing lead Claire Bond and takes place at Stafford Rugby Club on Thursday 1 December.
It will cover a wide range of topics relating to mental health and a variety of different organisations will be on hand with information and advice on emotional wellbeing but also on how to deal with financial hardship.
Claire said: “We really have to start talking about the ‘elephant in the room’ around financial wellbeing to anxiety and depression and how that affects our mental health.
“The country is facing another prolonged period of austerity, the cost of living crisis is hitting people hard and financial worries are having a real impact on mental health.”
Claire said the timing of the wellbeing day was also important.
She said: “We have chosen 1 December because it is smack bang in the middle of the Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) period and also comes at the end of Men’s Health Awareness month which runs throughout November.
“We wanted to do something for our members so what better to put on a day like this.
“It is going to be a very emotional day but I really think we need to address these things and try to get some tips and help on how we can help our members notice things in themselves or even family members,”
Rob Birch from UNISON will be at the event to talk about the use of foodbanks and other speakers will discuss issues around mental health.
There will also be a talk on suicide and signs and symptoms by Evan Grant from the Cameron Grant Memorial Trust on how he lost his son to suicide eight years ago.
The organisation will give visitors to the wellbeing day a free beer mat which features the numbers of helplines people can contact if in crisis.
Local men’s mental health charity Men Unite, representatives from the Thrive app which is used by Staffordshire Police, and No1 Copperpot will also be at the event, discussing how they can help the police family financially.
Claire is hoping to film parts of the wellbeing day so members who are unable to attend can catch up by watching online.
She said: “Obviously we want as many people as possible to attend because the issues being covered can affect us all.”
