Charity golf day generates bumper donation for RL Cares

Energy workers at the Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station in Cheshire have shown their appreciation for the work of Rugby League Cares by donating the proceeds from their annual golf day to the charity.

Liam Parker, the Health Manager for RL Cares, visited Fiddler’s Ferry to receive a cheque for £3,471 from Station Manager, Peter Woosey and Jannette Pierce.

RL Cares has a strong relationship with the staff at Fiddler’s Ferry, many of whom have attended on-site presentations of Offload, the charity’s mental health and wellbeing programme.

Designed with support from State of Mind, Offload is presented by former professional Rugby League players and officials who use their experiences of dealing with pressure to help participants develop their own coping skills.

In 2017, Fiddler’s Ferry became the first location where Offload was delivered in the workplace, and was so successful that the power station’s parent company, SSE, have rolled out the programme across five other sites.

Liam Parker said: “We would like to thank Fiddler’s Ferry, both for this generous donation from their golf day and for welcoming us into the organisation to work with their staff.

“Hundreds of power station workers are now armed with tools and techniques that will allow them to manage their own mental health and cope with challenging situations.

“It is through the partnership with Fiddler’s Ferry that our Offload in the Workplace programme was born and we are now working with companies across the UK to promote good mental health.”

Natalie Casstles, the Business Change Analyst at Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station, said: “As an employer at Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station we wanted to highlight mental health and wellbeing and provide some positive support to our workforce.

“To help remove the stigma around mental health and make it easier for people to access support we invested in the Offload programme in partnership with Rugby League Cares and State of Mind.

“The feedback from the 30 sessions we held involving 276 members of our workforce has been very positive: the sessions focused on issues such as anger, building resilience, managing stress and mindfulness and were delivered superbly by the presenters from RL Cares.

“We are now looking at ways we can progress our mental health and wellbeing support to all the staff and contactors at Fiddler’s Ferry.”

For more information on Offload in the Workplace and how RL Cares can improve the mental health of you and your workforce, please click here