Hello PPMA Members and friends

At the beginning of this year I talked about the how proud I was of our profession and how well we have supported and helped our organisations over the last year and how we need to continue our focus on supporting our workforces in the right way, addressing any bias or discrimination, and looking after their wellbeing.

I said that we could come through the Coronavirus Pandemic and WIN – with a focus on Wellbeing, Innovation and New thinking, ideas, technology.

I want to briefly remind you to encourage your organisations to enter our PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2021 to celebrate and share the fantastic work that you have been doing. There are many categories to choose from including recruitment, transformation, development, diversity & inclusion, partnership working and wellbeing. The awards close next Monday 17 May.

Also, this week is Mental Health Awareness Week. It is all about starting conversations about mental health and the things in our daily lives that can affect it.  Over the last year Leatham Green, our Executive Director, has been doing great things to continue the focus on wellbeing with regular videos and social media meetings promoting mental wellbeing actions and interventions. I know that you have also been doing great work over the last year in highlighting the importance of wellbeing in your organisations.

This year the focus of Mental Health Awareness Week is on Nature. Nature is something that is all around us. It can be really helpful in supporting good mental health.  Nature can mean any environment in which we can use our senses to experience the natural world. This could include the countryside, a park or garden, coast, lakes and rivers, wilderness, plants or wildlife closer to home. It also includes trees on an urban street, private gardens, verges and even indoor plants or window boxes. Surprisingly, even watching nature documentaries has been shown to be good for our mental health. This is great news as it means the mental health benefits of nature can be made available to nearly every one of us, no matter where we live.

During lockdown, nature has played a vital part in supporting mental health. According to the Mental Health Foundation, last summer half of people in the UK said that being in nature was a favoured way to cope with the stress of the pandemic.

So apart from encouraging you to get your organisations to enter our PPMA Awards 2021, I would also encourage you to promote Mental Health Awareness week, check out the information and resources available from the Mental Health Foundation and the focus on Nature this year.

Best wishes

Steve Davies, PPMA President