Finalist
Under the Tree: Showing True Heart for Comms Minds
by Fox&Cat
Summary of work
The communications industry has an endemic problem. The CIPR and PRCA’s annual mental health audit showed that 91% of communications professionals experience poor mental health, with 78% experiencing significant stress.
Fox&Cat founder, Paul Hutchings, felt compelled to act. The research revealed that the drivers behind these high stress levels included workload and tight deadlines. From his personal experience of burnout and subsequent upskilling on how to enlist tools to better deal with stress, he knew it was possible to teach people to manage better.
Given the CIPR, PRCA and the HCA had focuses on mental wellbeing but no budget or resource to create change, and nothing suitable existed, they formed a partnership with the collective vision of reducing the impact of stress on the UK’s 79,100* comms industry employees. After three months of discussions, a shared vision was formed: to equip people to deal with the increasing levels of stress they face.
They launched Under the Tree - free, industry-wide mental wellbeing training which washad 4,631 lifetime views which equates to circa 6% of the industry. 90% of attendees surveyed said after the training, they felt better equipped to deal with pressure and stress.
The partnership continues in 2024.
Judges’ comments
Under the Tree was an effective project with good implementation and strategy. It achieved an incredible amount on a low budget. It supported and recognised a serious topic in our industry and did it very well. The judges look forward to seeing it develop.
