The Drinks Trust has launched a roster of new wellness services focusing on improving the mental health of the industry and supporting individuals through these unprecedented times.
With the support of industry donors and numerous fundraising efforts within its community, the UK trade charity has recently completed a round of one-off £250 financial grants to assist just under 2,000 of those who face loss of earnings as a result of Covid-19.
The Drinks Trust will continue to support people financially in the months ahead, however the emerging and likely long-term effects the current situation will have on the mental health and wellness of the community has led the charity to launch significantly increased wellness services.
Covering key areas of wellbeing, the services will be delivered over an initial seven-month period until the end of the year, although the intention is to increase the availability of the offering to meet the evolving needs of the drinks industry workforce. The services include:
Guidance
Resident wellness coach and leadership coach Kat Hounsell of Everyday People will be delivering tips and tricks to care for your holistic health. With industry expertise and insight, she will apply her guidance to a community she has been part of for many years.
Additionally, new online and downloadable content and guidelines will be made available for community members to learn more about the ways in which to approach their wellbeing concerns.
Talking therapies
The Drinks Trust is making an initial investment of £80,000 to provide online video therapy services, provided by Dr Julian, an online and app-based therapy service. The service’s purpose is to put accessible mental healthcare into the hands of everybody in the drinks industry.
Dr Julian has brought together a range of highly experienced therapists/psychologists, who offer psychological therapy through online video sessions and instantaneous text, that you can have on your phone, tablet or computer whenever and wherever you want.
The service provides a secure and caring environment where they listen and treat you as the individual that you are, which in turn, allows you to focus fully on your health.
Sleep and insomnia treatment
Although originally conceived as a Drinks Trust service for those working late shift patterns and those struggling with work-related stress, there is now an emerging need from the wider drinks industry as a result of work uncertainty and decreased physical energy expenditure.
The Drinks Trust is inviting 300 individuals to undertake a week-long sleep and insomnia assessment, with 150 then qualifying for a month-long treatment programme.
The service is delivered by Sleepstation, the leading UK provider of sleep and insomnia treatment to the NHS, through app base technologies and assessment tools, together with a live consultancy from trained sleep and insomnia specialist.
Mindful drinking programme
In June, The Drinks Trust will launch its first mindful drinking initiative. Partnering with Club Soda, the Mindful Drinking Movement, which has helped thousands of people to change their approach to alcohol consumption, the charity is ambitious to help its community to lead a healthy and productive career in the drinks industry.
The mindful drinking course is open to anyone working in or furloughed from the industry who wants to change their drinking by cutting down, stopping for a bit or quitting, for an initial period of three months from June.
Helpline
The Drinks Trust helpline was set up in 2017 and remains a core service to the drinks industry. The charity will be looking to help more people with increasing calls to its call handlers and, where necessary, refer them to therapists for counselling.
This will also enable more people to seek the vital mental health support they may otherwise not be able to access owing to the lack of availability on the NHS and the prohibitive cost of private care.
Ross Carter, CEO of The Drinks Trust, said: “Thanks to industry donor businesses, such as London Essence and Virgin Wines, and to all of our business partners, we are delighted to be able to offer our community an increased range of support services at a difficult time.
“We are very grateful for their support and hope that this is just the beginning of a broader wellness services offering. We would ask any business in the industry who is able to donate to The Drinks Trust to consider doing so, as our services are needed now more than ever”.
Chairman Michael Sanders added: “I’m delighted that we are able to offer the drinks industry community such vital support services.
“We have been planning this since mid-2019, so to be able to launch now is particularly important at this critical juncture for so many. We know demand will be acute and The Drinks Trust is here to help in every way that we can.”
