Demand for NABS’ core services doubles
Demand for NABS’ core services has doubled (+100%) year-on-year, with more than 2,200 needing support in the first quarter of 2023.
The media and marketing industry wellbeing charity also reported the number of people calling NABS’ support team jumped 47% year-on-year, with mental health concerns making up the majority (55%) of all emotional support calls, followed by financial assistance (23%) and redundancy queries (15%).
Therapy referrals also doubled year-on-year, including a 50% rise in referrals from men. A spokesperson for NABS said men have historically been more reticent to seek out emotional support from NABS, making the growth in referrals this year particularly poignant.
In response to the continued rise in demand for NABS’ services, the charity is creating additional solutions to help “drive individual and cultural change for the industry”.
Namely, NABS is expanding its Grow workshops and Explore sessions. The former offers mental wellness content and leadership and management development while the latter are coach-led group discussion sessions designed to help people understand emerging industry issues through “collective exploration in a safe space.”
The new explore sessions will be developed monthly in direct response to topical issues within and outside the industry, with the first focussing on financial wellbeing.
NABS is also expanding Advance, its commercial training offer. Whereas NABS’ well-established charity offer focuses on help for the individual, and is free at the point of access for all, Advance offers these same products for organisations to buy in, tailored to their needs, allowing them to train their employees at scale.
A spokesperson for NABS said the introduction of the Advance offer following multiple years of industry trials is in direct response to requests from “numerous industry companies over the years” for NABS to open up its training products to all of their staff.
Profits from Advance bookings will be invested directly back into NABS to help fund the charity in the face of continually rising demand for its free services.
Speaking at The Future of Brands 2023 conference in London on Wednesday, NABS CEO Sue Todd stressed the importance of tailoring solutions to mental health struggles to the individual, rather than seek one-size-fits-all policies.
She added that, for many, a more positive relationship with their line manager is the key to better mental health in the workplace, and better management training could help unlock progress in this area.
“It’s clear that new solutions are called for if we’re to advance the mental wellness of our industry and serve the growing demand for support, insight and development,” said Todd.
“Helping more individuals with our Grow and Explore offer remains at the heart of the charity, but opening up our expertise and much of the tried-and-tested content for organisations to also buy, seems like a no-brainer. This is especially the case as the profits from our commercial offer feed right back into the charity for more individuals to benefit.”