G4S becomes 500th pledge signatory to join see me to tackle stigma
15 May 2012G4S has become the 500th organisation and the first security solutions company in Scotland to publicly pledge its commitment to work with ‘see me’ to tackle the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental ill-health.
‘see me’, Scotland’s national campaign to end the stigma of mental ill-health, works in partnership with local businesses, organisations and public bodies across Scotland to highlight the importance of positive mental health and well-being, both in the workplace and beyond. ‘see me’ is committed to empowering people to speak openly and confidently about mental ill-health to break down the associated barriers.
G4S is the largest security solutions company in the UK and Ireland, with over 40,000 employees. In Scotland, G4S employs over 4,000 employees who deliver a range of services to the business community and public sector organisations. Through delivery of these services, G4S employees come into contact with large numbers of the general public, the business community and many people within the criminal justice system.
Representatives from G4S Secure Solutions Scotland and G4S Care and Justice divisions signed the pledge with Suzie Vestri, ‘see me’s Campaign Director.
As part of their pledge commitment, G4S agreed action plans to join with ‘see me’ to tackle the stigma and discrimination around mental ill-health by taking action as employers, service providers and community stakeholders.
As part of the pledge, the company will introduce more training on mental health as part of their employee induction programmes and support employees to better understand and to respond appropriately to any mental health problems experienced by themselves, their colleagues or people in their care.
Suzie Vestri, ‘see me’ Campaign Director, said: “Mental ill-health can affect all of us at some point in our lives. For people experiencing a mental health problem, the reaction and support of family, friends and colleagues can make a huge difference to recovery.
“We welcome the commitment made by G4S to become the 500th organisation to unite with ‘see me’ in our aim to remove the barrier that stands in the way of people talking about mental ill-health. Everyone has a role to play in tackling the stigma and discrimination of mental ill-health. Simply being there for someone and offering support can make all the difference.”
Kevin O’Neill, Chair of the Lanarkshire Mental Health Improvement Partnership Group, said: “On-behalf of the Lanarkshire partners I would like to express my appreciation to G4S for joining forces with ‘see me’ and ourselves in the promotion of mental health and well-being, stigma reduction and suicide prevention. We are delighted to see the discussions, which began in G4S’s Lanarkshire offices, grow into a Scotland wide commitment. G4S are demonstrating that mental health and well-being is everyone’s business and we all have an important contribution to make.”
Valerie Dale, HR Director at G4S, said: “We are proud to pledge our support to the ‘see me’ campaign. Our employees are our biggest asset and better awareness of mental health issues will help them to support the people in our care more effectively as well as improving their understanding of how to cope with any issues they experience in their own personal lives.”
For more information on signing the ‘see me’ pledge, visit: www.seemescotland.org
For more information on G4S, visit www.g4s.com/uk
Contact details
About G4S
About G4S Secure Solutions (UK)
G4S Secure Solutions (UK) employs more than 24,000 people throughout the UK, working with a wide range of public sector and commercial clients, including 59 FTSE 100 companies. The company provides specialist security solutions to over 6,000 customers across a range of sectors including: government, utilities, financial institutions, leisure and tourism, and transport.
For more information on G4S Secure Solutions (UK) visit www.g4s.com/uk
About G4S plc
G4S is the world's leading security solutions group, which specialises in outsourcing of business processes in sectors where security and safety risks are considered a strategic threat. G4S is the largest employer quoted on the London Stock Exchange and has an additional stock exchange listing in Copenhagen.
G4S has operations in more than 125 countries and more than 657,000 employees. For more information on G4S, visit www.g4s.com/uk
Notes to editors:
• ‘see me’ is Scotland's national campaign to end the stigma and discrimination of mental ill-health. The ‘see me’ anti-stigma campaign is owned and run by an alliance of five Scottish mental health organisations:
Highland Users Group (HUG), Penumbra, Royal College of Psychiatrists (Scottish Division), Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) and Support in Mind Scotland.
• ‘see me’ is fully funded by the Scottish Government
• The ‘see me’ campaign features a programme of events and local and national initiatives to reduce the stigma faced by people with mental health problems throughout Scotland.
• The ’see me’ website www.seemescotland.org acts as a signpost site for those seeking information on stigma, mental health problems and support services in Scotland.