Mates in Mind Impact Awards 2019: Celebrating action taken across the construction sector

On Friday 5 April 2019, Mates in Mind announced the Highly Commended and Winners of their 2019 Impact Awards.

This was the second year that the awards have taken place, hosted as part of the British Safety Council’s prestigious the 2019 International Safety Awards gala dinner held at Grosvenor House in central London.

The Mates in Mind Impact Awards aim to recognise and celebrate the effort and good work of large organisations, SMEs and individuals across the UK. The awards are adjudicated by an independent panel of leading industry experts.

According to CITB, over time 35% of apprentices in the construction industry will go on to run their own businesses. 

Mates in Mind have launched a survey aiming to gain a better understanding of what apprentices who want to work in the construction sector may feel about mental health.

They hope to use this understanding to help improve awareness and support that can be provided to students during their apprenticeships.

Mates in Mind are offering apprentices the opportunity to win £250 of Amazon vouchers to one lucky apprentice participating in the survey. To take the survey or share its amongst your apprentices, follow the survey link here.

On announcing this year’s award recipients James Rudoni, Managing Director of Mates in Mind said:

“Our warmest congratulations to all our Winners and those who were Highly Commended – they should be proud of their achievement, but more than that, for their contributions to improving the mental health of their workforce and the wider industry.

“The Awards are only in their second year, as is the charity, but the number and quality of submissions we received were tremendous. We are delighted to see that the Awards are growing to become an annual highlight in the Mates in Mind calendar for our Supporters.

“I would also like to extend thanks to all who made time to apply and to our adjudicators who volunteered in support of this initiative. In addition to this, my congratulations to all those who were chosen to be shortlisted for the various categories. This in itself was a great achievement, so very well done to all the teams and individuals who reached that stage of the process.”

The winner of the Mates in Mind 2019 Impact Award for the Large Organisations category was Seddon Construction Ltd.

They were praised by the adjudication panel for having the courage to have a conversation following the tragic death of Jordan Bibby, one of their apprentices, as an organisation demonstrating true leadership to build a vision for the future that had inclusivity, health and wellbeing at its core.

The two organisations awarded Highly Commended for the Mates in Mind 2019 Impact Award for the Large Organisation category were Chevron Traffic Management and Network Rail: IP Western & Wales.

The winner of the Mates in Mind’s 2019 Impact Award for the SME category was Artelia UK. The panel were particularly impressed by Artelia’s efforts to use their role in managing supply chains and frameworks, to spread the message and touch as many people as possible.

Their work with Mates in Mind was noted to not only have started people talking, but actively changing the way they work to look out for one another and through this, benefiting their business overall.

The two organisations awarded Highly Commended for the Mates in Mind 2019 impact Award for the SME category were Wring Group and RSE Building Services.

This year, for the first time, Mates in Mind also offered Supporters the chance to nominate a colleague for their new category, the Mates in Mind 2019 Individual Champion Award.

This award sought to celebrate an individual who exhibited exceptional commitment to improving mental health and wellbeing within their organisation and beyond.

This year’s winner of the 2019 Impact Award for the Individual Champion Award in the SME category was Richard Carrington from Williams Southern Ltd.

Richard was praised for his delivery of change across their Retail Development Programme, including supporting contractors within the scheme living away from home and travelling many miles; as well as for his efforts to champion the belief that companies can start the conversation about mental health at any opportunity.

The winner of the 2019 Impact Award for the Individual Champion Award in the Large Organisations category was David White from Galliford Try.

David received the award for his energy, focus and inspirational dedication to motivating others, committing his Executive Board to a wellbeing vision as well as supporting the delivery and uptake of Galliford Try’s wellbeing initiative, Be Well.

About the Mates in Mind Impact Awards: The awards are an annual scheme. All Supporters of Mates in Mind are automatically eligible to submit applications for any of the relevant award categories. The awards scheme looks to recognise the work being undertaken by both larger organisations and SMEs.

About Mates in Mind: Mates in Mind is a registered charity working in the UK that aims to provide clear information to employers on available support and guidance on mental health, mental illness and mental wellbeing, and how they can address this within their organisations. Mates in Mind looks to make sense of what options and support are available to employers wishing to promote improved mental health within their workforce.  

Mates in Mind was the result of a Health in Construction Leadership Group summit in early 2017 for construction industry CEOs and senior leaders who voted overwhelmingly to improve the mental wellbeing of its workforce. At an event in January 2017, Mates in Mind was launched and the pilot phase was started. Mates in Mind was featured in the Thriving at Work report published in October 2017.

Mates in Mind is a collaboration of founding partners: Health in Construction Leadership Group and British Safety Council and is supported by core partner charities Mind, Samaritans, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England and Inspire.

It is also supported by construction industry charities and bodies and has various Mates in Mind business champions, including: Balfour Beatty; eight2O; Galliford Try; Mineral Products Association; RSE Group; Sellafield; Tarmac; and Tideway.