This year’s ACTNow wellbeing campaign aims to move the conversation beyond individual mental health stories and highlight real-life workplace wellbeing practices that have made a positive impact.

Our aim through these stories is to get people talking, to begin to address workplace cultural issues around mental health in pharmacy, and inspire pharmacy leaders and teams with good, practical wellbeing examples. Here we showcase the stories of individuals from across the sector who have implemented, helped to implement or been on the receiving end of good mental health and wellbeing practices in their workplace.

Breaking the Silence:

• My aim was to gain a better understanding of how organisational structure plays a part in wellbeing: Matthew Shaw – Director at CPPE -shares with us his journey to better understand and support feelings of loneliness and isolation across his team.

• Focus on what people can do rather than what they can’t do: Anita Cawley, a retired pharmacist, shares how her Cerebral Palsy didn’t hold her back from having a successful career, and how workplaces can support colleagues with disabilities.

• The power of mutual support has been our guiding light: Amira is Guirguis is the MPharm Programme Director at Swansea University Medical School. In this story, she shares how her team has fostered a positive workplace wellbeing culture.

• Helping others feels good as it creates a sense of purpose: Read pharmacist and pharmacy lecturer Mok’s story about how creative arts helps him with his mental wellbeing at work.

• Please take time to listen to your team when they come to you: Experienced pharmacy leader, Shilpa, shares the skills that she has picked up throughout the years that help to ensure good wellbeing in the workplace.

• Our Education Supervisors felt much more connected to their team: Ciara Richardson is an Education Supervisor at the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE). Last year, she and her colleague, Faiza Ali established a virtual cafe to reduce feelings of isolation and support wellbeing across the team.