Stress Awareness Month has been a vital campaign shining a light on the causes, effects, and ways to manage stress for over 30 years. The initiative has helped individuals, communities, and organisations understand the real impact stress can have on our mental and physical wellbeing.

Each year, a new theme guides the campaign, encouraging people to reflect and take action. In 2024, the theme “Little by Little” focused on how small, positive actions could improve mental wellbeing and saw us introduce a new code word for our staff team to use in the event of their own or a colleagues mental health emergency.

The code word was designed to take the anxiety often experienced in starting these conversations away from the employee and allowing our HR Manager, a qualified Mental Health First Aider to appropriately assist them and ask if they were ok. 2025’s theme was “lead with love” promoting unconditional positive regard (showing acceptance and care for yourself and others) without judgment.

To encourage our staff teams to engage in reinforcing a supportive work culture in this manner, we distributed wellbeing resource packs which included 30-day challenge cards prompting daily self-care actions, KIND bars to support physical energy and mood and de-stress essential oil sprays to encourage micro-breaks.

Packs also included directions to internal and external mental health resources and encouragement to engage with others on the subject. We found there was a high engagement in the suggested wellbeing activities, reduced reported stress levels, and the initiative strengthened our culture of care.

Managers also reported more open conversations about mental health and higher team morale. We look forward to supporting 2026’s campaign and make this engagement a long term strategy to help manage stress in the workplace.