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<p>In DfT we take a whole person approach to wellbeing, meaning that while we do provide
support specifically for physical and mental wellbeing, many of our initiatives are
designed to support all aspects of employee wellbeing.</p><p>In recent months we have:</p><ul><li>Introduced
Mental Health Buddies, many of whom are specifically trained Mental Health First Aiders,
who provide confidential peer to peer support for employees experiencing mental health
issues;</li><li>Offered flu vaccinations to the majority of employees;</li><li>Introduced
face-to-face health assessments for employees to obtain regular checks and track progress
against key indicators such as blood pressure and cholesterol;</li><li>Run a pilot
to make 5 sessions of physiotherapy available to employees at risk of musculoskeletal
issues due to the nature of their work;</li><li>Run location specific Wellbeing Weeks
to raise awareness of wellbeing issues and the support available to staff;</li><li>Introduced
a new management tool, the Wellbeing Action Plan, to support line managers in having
good quality wellbeing conversations with their teams;</li><li>Appointed Wellbeing
Champions at Director level for both the central Department and wider DfT family,
and</li><li>Introduced a Line Managers’ Toolkit for mental wellbeing, providing guidance
on promoting mental wellbeing in the workplace.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Ongoing work includes:</p><ul><li>Availability
of phone and face to face support, including counselling, through our Employee Assistance
Programme;</li><li>Promotion of theme days and weeks such as Civil Service Physical
Activity Week, the Civil Service Walking Challenge and Mental Health Awareness Week;</li><li>Story
sharing and communications aimed at breaking the stigma around mental health, led
by but not limited to the Time to Change group;</li><li>Activities provided by our
sports and social clubs including lunchtime yoga and fitness classes;</li><li>Participation
in the Cycle to Work scheme which allows employees to purchase a bike at a discounted
rate, and</li><li>Holding an annual Fit for Business and Young Families Day which
includes sporting and drop in activities available to all colleagues.</li></ul>
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