¹û¶³´«Ã½

Published March 2022

Hi Denver and welcome to ¹û¶³´«Ã½! Could you start by telling us a bit more about your new position at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ and what we can expect to see from you in the next few months?

Hi everyone. My name is Denver Thorpe and I'm the new Staff Wellbeing Coordinator at ¹û¶³´«Ã½. The main focus of this new role will be to enhance our staff members’ wellbeing and resilience through a variety of initiatives. I’ll be coordinating fun and enjoyable wellbeing events and campaigns, looking to find new ways to engage our staff, as well as providing evidence-based support and resources for everyone to help us all to look after our mental and physical health.

Over the next few months, we will be inviting staff and students to take part in various wellbeing events.

April is National Stress Awareness Month so look out for competitions, quizzes and hopefully some outdoor events subject to our ever-changing English weather! In May, we have National Walking Month and Mental Health Awareness Week, so we'll be inviting students and staff to get walking and talking about the importance of looking after our mental health. June is likely to be a very busy time: it’s Pride month, plus many other awareness campaigns, including Men’s Health Week, Volunteers Week and Switch To Cycling Week.

Any suggestions you may have for events, campaigns and any other ideas around looking after our physical and mental health would be great! Please send any ideas to me at Denver.thorpe@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window

Could you tell us a bit more about your professional background in mental health and what first drew you to a career in this area?

I initially started out as a teacher of English and French, before re-training as a therapist and clinical supervisor after seeing my colleagues struggling with stress, anxiety and burnout. I then worked as a Clinical Manager in the corporate world for over 10 years, before spending 5 years training trainee counsellors. My last role was with Coventry and ¹û¶³´«Ã½shire Mind as Lead Trainer.

I think two things that drew me to a career in mental health were seeing my teaching colleagues struggling with stress and anxiety, as well as having experience of mental health conditions myself and within my own family.

Some of our staff will already know about the Thrive at Work wellbeing survey, but for those who don’t, what is it, and how do you plan to use the findings to support staff at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ with their wellbeing?

The Thrive at Work wellbeing survey is part of a wellbeing programme run by Coventry City Council and West Midlands Combined Authority. It aims to move towards a happier, healthier workforce by building a wellbeing culture and using positive approaches to mental health.

I want to emphasise that this is not simply a tick-box process. As the programme proceeds, the University must demonstrate that we are following a wellbeing strategy and providing appropriate support for all staff.

The survey results will help us to identify any areas where we can do more to support staff wellbeing, and plan how to do this. We’ll work with Thrive At Work to track and check our progress to make sure we are putting our plan into practice and to see how we have supported staff wellbeing.

If successful, we can then apply for the Bronze accreditation charter mark, which will demonstrate our commitment to providing the best support we can to our hard-working staff.

Looking to the future, what would you like wellbeing support to look like at ¹û¶³´«Ã½?

I would like to use the findings of the Thrive at Work wellbeing survey to continue to put health and wellbeing at the centre of the University, for both staff and students. We need to be able to talk freely about mental health and give everyone the knowledge, support and tools they need to thrive.

If you could give one piece of advice to staff who are looking to improve their wellbeing, what would it be?

Be kind to yourself and others. We are all riders on the same train.