Supporting our Copart Cares 💙 CSR commitment to caring about our teammates, we’re marking Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 by announcing the launch of our new Mental Health First Aider programme in partnership with St John Ambulance.
The theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs from Monday 9th May to Sunday 15 May 2022, is loneliness, something which affects millions of people in the UK every year and is a key contributor to poor mental health.
At Copart, we actively encourage a culture where ‘it’s good to talk’ and we want all of our teammates to feel comfortable and able to reach out for help when needed.
With this in mind, we’re committed to providing a wide range of support networks, services, and tools to suit individual needs.
In addition to support from our management team and HR department, teammates can also receive free and confidential advice through an external Employee Assistance Programme, which is accessible through our Copart Rewards benefits platform.
We’re also very fortunate to have access to a wide range of free health and wellbeing support services through our company charity Ben. We regularly promote these services to our teammates and take part in various fundraising activities throughout the year to give back to this fantastic charity.
Copart teammates took part in the Ben’s Big Breakfast fundraising event.
To further expand our range of health and wellbeing support services, we recently launched an internal campaign to recruit one teammate from each of our 19 UK locations to train as a Copart Mental Health First Aider.
Our selected teammates will attend a two-day course with the St John Ambulance charity, which has over 140 years’ experience in delivering first aid training, where they will gain the appropriate knowledge and skills to respond effectively to situations which they might face in a real-life workplace scenario.
After completing their training, our Copart Mental Health First Aiders will be a point of contact for teammates who are experiencing mental health issues or emotional distress, from having an initial conversation through to supporting them to get appropriate help.
Also supporting our commitment to the personal development and training of our teammates, delegates will receive a nationally recognised qualification from awarding organisation FutureQuals.
Leanne Carroll, Human Resources Manager at Copart, said:
“As part of our Copart Cares CSR commitment, we‘re dedicated to doing everything we can to enhance the wellbeing of our teammates. The launch of our Mental Health First Aider programme is yet another way for us to encourage a healthy and happy working environment, alongside our existing health and wellbeing benefits package.
“We all go through challenging times which can impact on our mental health and make it feel difficult to cope. From those experiencing financial difficulties due to the cost-of-living rise, through to ongoing confidence issues and feelings of isolation following the pandemic, the launch of this programme feels very timely and relevant.”
Holly Rose, Learning and Development Manager at Copart, added:
“Having rolled out ‘Managing Mental Health in the Workplace’ training to over 125 managers across our business last year in association with the automotive charity Ben, we’re pleased to expand our Mental Health Support Programme with the introduction of Copart Mental Health First Aiders.
“We’re proud to work in partnership with such a well-established and respected charity as St John Ambulance, whose training will enable us to provide a valuable and extensive support network across our business.”
Once the initial cohort of Copart Mental Health First Aiders have successfully passed their training, we’ll be seeking to expand the opportunity to more teammates across our business later in the year.