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Thinking about drinking

It's Tuesday morning and too early for a G&T, or so you think. Some City workers may still be feeling the effects of a heavy weekend, or may be sitting at their desks under the influence.

Alcohol plays an important role in the working culture of the City. The City of London Corporation has developed a draft Corporate Alcohol Strategy, which aims to encourage City workers, among others, to safely and responsibly enjoy alcohol, without causing harm to their own health, compromise the safety of others, or negatively impact on their working life and productivity.

City businesses are a key stakeholder in the design and implementation of this strategic approach, with alcohol use cutting across many business priority areas, including health, safety and wellbeing, equality, diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility, and responsible business, to name a few.

City employers are invited to join Business Healthy for a business roundtable discusson on alcohol in the City, on the morning of Monday 3 June, at Mizuho Bank.

This off-the-record session will allow representatives from City businesses to comment on the City Corporation's draft Alcohol Strategy.

Visit the Eventbrite page to find out more and reserve a place.

Reserve a place

Quote of the week:

"'I don’t really believe in depression', my manager said. In one glib sentence erasing my lifetime of struggle. Well, much like gravity, you don't need to believe in it for it to be real.

...You wouldn't expect someone with a debilitating physical illness to come to work, but it's what we seem to expect of those with mental health issues. Particularly anxiety and depression. They're stigmatised to the extent that people just soldier on, never telling anyone and never asking for help. In some cases having normalised what they're experiencing so much that they don't realise they need to ask for help. This is one of the things I'm working to change." - Lyssa Barber from UBS Wealth Management talks about the importance of mental health awareness in a guest blog for St John Ambulance

Xenia Koumi, Project Lead for Business Healthy, has also contributed to the blog, by sharing insights on a health and safety approach to mental health in the workplace. Read it here.

Business Healthy Challenge update

We are into week three of the Business Healthy Challenge and there is fierce competition among teams. The warmer and sunnier weather has finally arrived, which is encouraging participants to get out and about, getting active and earning points.

Here are some vital statistics on this free Challenge so far...

636 participants, representing 59 organisations of a range of sizes and sectors
181 teams
311,288 points recorded so far, with walking logged as the most popular activity

As stands, the top five teams are:

Ouch Potatoes (Nomura)
DevTeam (City of London Corporation)
We're here for the teeth whitening (Teneo Consulting)
CBT (City of London Corporation)
Thames Typhoons (Nomura)

Challenge participants and City workers are able to benefit from a number of free activities taking part across the Square Mile this May, which offer the opportunity to make the most of the warmer weather and lighter evenings and get more active.

There are lots of free lunchtime activities to choose from this week, including:

Walks taking in Guildhall and Bishopsgate (Tuesday 14) and Smithfield (Thursday 16) (hosted by the Active City Network and Ramblers)
Run Club (Tuesday 14), Bootcamp classes (Wednesday 15 and Friday 17) (hosted by Nomura)
A talk on stress, resilience and mindfulness (Friday 17) (hosted by Nomura)
...and an after-work walk along the City's riverside (Tuesday 14) (hosted by the Active City Network and Living Streets)

For more information and to access the entire timetable, click here.

Play your part in suicide prevention

In the UK in 2017, there were more than three times the number of deaths by suicide than by traffic accidents and suicide continues to be the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK.

The City of London Corporation has been working with key partners, including the City of London Police, RNLI and Samaritans to tackle the issue of suicide locally. The City's business community - HR, facilities, security staff and City workers - play an important role in this work - given their engagement with staff, colleagues and members of the public.

Join our next Suicide Prevention Awareness session on the morning of Friday 28 June, led by Samaritans, in partnership with the City of London Police and hosted at Commerzbank's offices in the City. This brief, but highly interactive, two-hour session addresses identifying and supporting individuals who are at crisis point.

Places are extremely limited and are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

Find out more and book here.

Download free "Release the Pressure" campaign posters and other resources here, to display and share with your workforce. "Release the Pressure" is an ongoing City-wide campaign that encourages individuals to spot signs when they, or someone close to them, may be struggling with their mental health and signposts them to free and local support.

Coming up...

Bike Week (8 - 16 June)

Cycling in the City of London has quadrupled in the last 20 years. Using two wheels to get around has great advantages for health, wellbeing and the environment, and can also save money when compared with commuting by public transport.

In the City, measures have been taken to make the roads safer for cyclists, including rolling out a 20mph limits on all roads and connecting the street network to the capital's Cycle Superhighways and "Quietways". Many one-way streets are designed to allow cyclists to cycle against the main flow of traffic.

The City of London Corporation works with City businesses through its Active City Network and Business Healthy, to support and encourage City workers to take up cycling - both as a form of transport and as a form of exercise.

Businesses located in the City and their workers can benefit from free services offered by the City Corporation. These include:

Dr Bike services: free cycle maintenance, checks and advice, as well as general road-worthiness tests and minor repairs.
Cycle maintenance courses
Cycle Skills training (one-to-one sessions for basic, urban and advance cyclists, as well as family sessions)

Find out more here.

In addition, City workers can benefit from a free guided tour on an electric bike (e-bike), hosted by Cheapside Business Alliance and the Green Commute Initiative. This tour will be taking place on Wednesday 22 May, between 12:45 and 2pm. For more information and to reserve a place, visit the Eventbrite page here (password is Cheapside).

Do you use LinkedIn or Twitter? Make sure you follow Business Healthy to stay up-to-date on news and developments in the world of employee health and wellbeing in the Square Mile.

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Business Healthy is funded and delivered by the City of London Corporation's Public Health team, supporting the City Corporation's statutory obligations to ensure the health and wellbeing of the almost half a million people who work in the Square Mile each day.

Copyright © 2019 Business Healthy, All rights reserved.

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Thinking about drinking

Business Healthy Challenge update

Play your part in suicide prevention

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