Event Industry Associations grant open access to well-being toolkit heads up

The Association of Event Organisers (AEO), Association of Event Venues (AEV) and the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) have announced that their members' only "heads up" well-being tool kit has been made available to the public as a free resource for anyone needing help or support with their own mental health or that of colleagues, friends or family.

This mental health toolkit, an evolving and regularly updated library of resources, advice and further help, was released in February 2020 - but only available to members of the three associations. In the light of the pandemic, and the tremendous pressure on the whole country's mental health, the associations have jointly agreed to make the popular resource freely accessible to the public.

Chair of the Cross Association Event Industry HR Group, Raj Pragji (HRD at QEII Centre) explained the decision to make the toolkit public, saying, Mental health problems are common and widespread. The Coronavirus pandemic has been a very stressful time for a lot of people and the last 13 months have been a testing time for all particularly managing isolation, continued uncertainty and anxiety about returning to 'the new normal'.

In the spirit of inclusion, we want to help the wider event industry professionals understand the factors that affect their mental health and to look out for the mental health of their colleagues.

Raj continued, This tool kit was designed to help create a supportive and knowledgeable culture around mental health. We want to encourage and embed wider positive long-term change across our industry, inside and outside of association memberships so everyone can thrive and succeed.

The tool kit is available from the 'Resource' section of the AEO, AEV and ESSA websites.