The Midcounties Co-operative and Everymind Announce Partnership
Samuel Roberts
Wrote this on, February 21, 2022
The Midcounties Co-operative, one of the UK’s largest independent co-operatives which operates food retail, childcare, travel, online healthcare and utilities trading groups under the Your Co-op brand, today announced their partnership with workplace mental health provider, Everymind at Work.
It’s no secret that mental health and wellbeing has long been a stigmatised and taboo subject since… well forever. However, the demands of modern living, lack of available support and the impact of the wider pandemic has increased the risk of poor mental health, placing businesses in a position where they must also play a crucial role in supporting the wellbeing of their colleagues.
The Midcounties Co-operative wanted to take a lead on this, choosing a proactive approach to workplace wellbeing (something that sits at the heart of Everymind at Work’s philosophy) to ensure their colleagues are supported at every level of the business, from the shop floor to senior leadership. Knowing that 1 in 4 people suffer with their mental health in the UK, they wanted to do everything they could to break down mental health stigma and provide the right support to help their 7,000 colleagues thrive.
How we’re working together…
Everymind at Work, founded by Paul McGregor, is now a key partner in making this a reality, providing a mental health and wellbeing partnership that delivers ongoing support, resources and tools to colleagues, specifically through the Everymind wellbeing app and Champion support. Through their unique approach to workplace wellbeing and ability to break down mental health stigma through shared experiences, they’re leading a new approach focused on proactive support that helps to prevent colleagues from reaching crisis point in the first place.
Paul McGregor shares his experience so far with working alongside The Midcounties Co-operative, he says:
“We’re really excited to partner with Midcounties Co-operative to help improve the mental wellbeing of their colleagues. From our first conversation, I knew that this was a company that really cared about its people and wanted to deliver the right support. The level of impact and investment they are trying to make internally is truly admirable and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the next few years develop.”
With the partnership to date, The Midcounties Co-operative has taken full advantage of Everymind’s Champion Course, a wellbeing training course that provides the foundational tools to support yourself and others in the workplace, pushing the initiative across all 5 of their divisions and holding regular check-ins with Everymind at Work to support the Champions in their role.
Alongside this, the team at Everymind at Work provide on-demand bespoke comms support to The Midcounties Co-operative HR and Wellbeing team, making it simple and easy to distribute key resources to staff. Rebekah Smallwood, Society Engagement Manager from the retail giant, has commented on the partnership and shared that:
“We see Everymind at Work as an extended part of our wellbeing team. A partner who truly cares for our colleagues as if they were their own. There is definitely a cultural shift on the horizon and as a business, we are committed to doing our part.”
The entire Everymind at Work team are incredibly excited to be on this journey, helping The Midcounties Co-operative tackle mental health stigma and proactively support their colleagues.
