Today is World Mental Health Day and in order to support this year’s themes of Awareness, Belonging and Connection I asked Team Stopgap what mental health means to them.

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Team Stopgap's consultants defined mental health as "challenging, ongoing, manageable, forgiveness, understanding, self-kindness, belonging, courage, balance, community, education, support."

Knowing the impact of the pandemic on Australian’s mental health and recent reports on Adland’s effort to provide employee wellbeing schemes, this year in particular is more important than ever to show workplace commitment to foster belonging and connection within teams.

Working remotely or even in a hybrid structure means there is less opportunity for candid face to face conversations and water cooler chats where we can really get to know our colleagues better. I truly value the days in the office where I can connect in person, get to know the team better through what music they listen to and what they got up to on the weekend.

Being at Stopgap I’ve learnt the importance of prioritising wellbeing. I didn’t realise the impact of employee wellbeing benefits and a wellbeing first culture until I joined the team in November. I feel encouraged to take time off when I need it, whether it’s the multiple times I got covid, annual leave for holiday or a study day to prepare for my university assessments. I know I’ll be supported in big and small ways from the flexibility to work from home when needed to an annual Mind, Body & Soul allowance and weekly top ups of fresh fruit in the office.

Stopgap’s people first mission means togetherness and community are essential not only to our business processes but also our internal culture.

No organisation is perfect, in fact many of the imperfections like our rubbish bin with a broken foot pedal (now replaced) or other behind the scenes mishaps actually bring us closer together as a team and help us learn and grow together. This is what mental health means to me. Ongoing learning as a team, where we feel safe to take on new challenges knowing Team Stopgap is cheering us on. And that's the true spark in Stopgap.

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​If you need support today or in the future please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue.