It’s World Wellbeing Week, an international awareness event which highlights and celebrates all aspects of wellbeing, from physical, mental and emotional health to wellbeing at work.
Running from 24th to 30th June, World Wellbeing Week is organised by WellBeing World, a network of health and wellbeing experts.
Established in 2011, WellBeing World is “devoted to promoting personal, corporate and societal wellbeing” and provides support to organisations with a focus on employee and workplace wellbeing. They also develop wellbeing resources for individuals and hold an annual Wellbeing Summit and Awards ceremony.
Now in its seventh year, World Wellbeing Week aims to support and promote individual wellbeing across all parts of life and “serves as a reminder to us all of the benefits of prioritising wellbeing and encourages individuals to re-focus their efforts.”
WellBeing World provides lots of information and guidance, including on topics such as “wellbeing washing”, sleep, acupuncture, the importance of nature, and gratitude.
Celebrating World Wellbeing Week in the UK
Here in the UK, the national charity Mates in Mind is encouraging supporters to start a conversation about mental health within their businesses and across their networks to celebrate World Wellbeing Week.
Established in 2017 by the Health in Construction Leadership Group (HCLG) with the support of the British Safety Council, the charity works to improve mental health and wellbeing in UK workplaces. They support organisations operating in higher risk sectors to foster workplace environments and cultures that promote positive mental health.
Mates in Mind recognise World Wellbeing Week as a key opportunity to break the silence and stigma surrounding mental ill-health and raise awareness of the importance of providing a safe and healthy workplace environment.
On their website they explain:
“We wholeheartedly agree that wellbeing incorporates a range of diverse dimensions. This is why we work collaboratively with organisations to embed a proactive prevention strategy which empowers them to create positive mental health in and through work.”
That’s why Mates in Mind have developed a suite of free resources to help support organisations during World Wellbeing Week and beyond. This includes a free World Wellbeing Week 2025 poster which can be downloaded and shared across organisations. Individuals and organisations can also access factsheets, a manager’s guide, a mental health quiz and a short video series.
Supporters can also subscribe to the Mates in Mind newsletter, read their latest blogs or access their support services.
Why focus on wellbeing at work?
Mates in Mind cite recent statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which show that, in 2023-2024, almost half (46%) of all cases of work-related ill-health were caused by stress, depression or anxiety. This equates to 776,000 cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety.
What’s more, work-related stress, depression and anxiety accounted for more than half (55%) of all working days lost due to work-related ill-health, equating to a staggering 16.4 million working days.
According to the Commission for Healthier Working Lives, poor workforce health – both physical and mental – is estimated to cost UK employers up to £150 billion each year as a result of productivity losses, sickness absences and recruitment costs.
Mates in Mind also quote the CIPD Health and wellbeing at work report 2023, which found that a third of respondents reported that workplace health and wellbeing initiatives had “resulted in better employee morale and engagement (35%) and a healthier and more inclusive culture (31%).”
Key reasons for supporting positive mental health in the workplace and engaging with workplace wellbeing initiatives include:
- Employers have a legal duty to safeguard, as far as is reasonable practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees while at work, and this includes protecting their mental health
- Improved workplace wellbeing benefits businesses by leading to increased productivity and a reduction in sickness absences, ‘presenteeism;’ and staff turnover
- It improves an organisation’s reputation and ability to attract talent by demonstrating that it is a safe and supportive place to work. Worker expectations have certainly evolved, with a 2022 Deloitte study finding that a third of employees now seek support for their mental health and wellbeing from employers
- Research by Deloitte has suggested that, on average, businesses achieve a £5 return for every £1 invested in workplace wellbeing support
- It also benefits employees, leading to improved confidence, purpose, achievement, positive relationships and inclusion. Workers feel valued and have greater morale
Workplace wellbeing a “major challenge for the next generation”
If we don’t prioritise workplace wellbeing now, the consequences could be felt for generations to come.
The Commission for Healthier Working Lives has highlighted the sharp increase in mental health challenges among workers, particularly younger workers.
They say that more than 10% of working-age people now experience poor mental health and that, in contrast to two decades ago, this is seen more keenly among younger adults, with an estimated 500,000 young people aged 16-24 years old now out of the workforce and reporting work-limiting health conditions.
The Commission warns that “long periods out of work at this life stage can have lasting effects.”
They add:
“Missing out on early job experiences makes it harder to build skills, secure stable work and progress to better-paid roles – without action, this will become a major challenges for the next generation.”
What is the future for workplace wellbeing?
In its final report, published March 2025, the Commission for Healthier Working Lives set out practical steps to shift national policy and action towards preventing people from having to leave the workforce due to work-related ill-health or injury. They cite the following key aims for a new approach:
- A focus on prevention through best practice
- Capacity for early, joined-up support
- Incentives to support preventative action
Introducing the Action for healthier working lives report, The Health Foundation asserts:
“With an ageing population and rising mental health challenges in the younger population, the time to act is now.”
Crucially, the Commission found that people with health challenges, including mental health challenges, can often remain in meaningful work if they are given the right support.
In the report’s foreword, the Chair of the Commission, Sacha Romanovitch OBE, says that “early, simple actions,” can make a significant difference in helping people to remain in work.
These include:
- Designing roles and adjusting workloads to enable good health
- Creating cultures where colleagues check in on each other and providing access to more specialist support when needed
- Structuring roles an work to allow flexibility, enabling people to stay in work, earn a living and maintain the connections so important for mental health
Currently, poor quality jobs are harming health. The Commission says that “persistent insecurity, workplace discrimination and extreme demands,” are taking a toll on worker health and wellbeing.
Other, sometimes necessary, job characteristics, such as long or irregular hours and night shifts, can also increase the risk of serious mental health issues if not properly managed.
Mental health and wellbeing can be significantly tested in higher-risk industries such as construction, transport and logistics and farming. These sectors include a number of smaller employers and self-employed workers. Organisations and individuals often lack access to basic health, safety and wellbeing support and may not have dedicated HR services.
In October 2024, an interim report of the Commission for Healthier Working Lives, published by The Health Foundation, noted that organisations in these sectors need to consider sector-specific improvements in job security, working conditions and tailored support to address these difficulties.
The final March 2025 report states:
“Ensuring work supports, rather than harms, health should be a core part of improving working-age health and increasing employment.”
Positive steps to take this World Wellbeing Week
Mates in Mind recently published a blog in which they explored how to support workplace wellbeing by eradicating the culture of silence and normalising conversations about mental health in the workplace.
They offer the following tips for organisations:
- Lead by example – managers, senior leaders and all team members should share experiences and encourage others to do the same
- Reward exemplary behaviour – support people who share their mental health journeys, volunteer to become Mental Health First Aiders or who embody the organisation’s wellbeing values and culture
- Call out inappropriate behaviour and negative language around mental health, explaining how these reinforce the stigma and prevent people from seeking support when they need it most.
- Educate, train and empower – provide employers with the tools and information to enable them to spot the signs of poor mental health, start conversations, make reasonable work adjustments and signpost appropriate support.
- Provide support – ensure your organisation has a mental health policy and relevant templates for mental health risk assessments. Ensure there is support available from trained Mental Health First Aiders or Mental Health Champions, HR, charities or resources
- Assess – survey your team to ensure you are making progress and that your actions are effective and leading to positive changes in the workplace
Mates in Mind provide relevant advice, guidance and links in other related blogs, such as how to optimise mental wellbeing through workplace culture.
Mental health learning and development solutions can play a significant role in helping people to recognise risk factors and proactively support positive mental wellbeing across the UK.
First Response Training (FRT) is a leading national training provider delivering courses in subjects such as health and safety, first aid, fire safety, manual handling, food safety, mental health, health and social care and more.
An accredited Mindful Employer themselves, FRT’s specialist mental health training courses include Understanding Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace, Managing Stress, Anxiety and Phobias Awareness, Self-Harm Awareness and Suicide Awareness.
They can also provide qualified, approved trainers to deliver accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training courses, including the Adult, Youth and Lite versions.
A trainer from FRT says:
“We spend a significant portion of our lives at work and so its essential that we feel happy and supported while we are there, and that promoting positive mental health is part of the workplace culture.
“World Wellbeing Week helps us to refocus on this and identify ways in which we can improve health and wellbeing at work, taking a proactive approach to protect people’s health, safety and welfare.
“Training is a positive way in which we can help to support and promote positive mental health in the workplace as it provides staff with essential information, knowledge and skills to offer support to each other and enable them to build their own emotional resilience at work and beyond.
“It also demonstrates that an organisation is serious about mental health and wellbeing and that they are happy to have open conversations about mental health, which is vitally important.”
Resources to support World Wellbeing Week
To help promote positive mental health at work at any time of year, you can download our free guide to ‘Promoting Mental Health at Work.’
A brief summary of our mental health training can now be downloaded as an infographic.
We also have a number of other free infographics available to download which provide simple tips for helping to manage your mental wellbeing. These include:
- Managing Stress at Work
- Manage Your Stress at Work
- Manage Your Stress
- Support Your Mental Health
- Connect With Nature
- Work Well From Home
- Anxiety Factsheet
- Manage Your Anxiety
- Managing Panic Attacks
You can also download our free Guide to Mental Health Training from our website.
For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.