Mental Health Awareness Week: What We're Doing and Why It Matters

Mental Health Awareness Week: What We’re Doing and Why It Matters

1 in 5 reports experiencing a common mental health problem (like anxiety and depression) in any given week in England, so why is talking about mental health still a stigma that workplaces struggle to discuss openly? We at Solarport want to be different.

 

May 11th – 17th marks Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year’s theme is Action. Not awareness. Not a conversation. Action. That distinction matters to us because it’s easy to say the right things. It’s harder and more important to actually do them.

This Year’s Theme: Action

This year’s theme, Action, resonates with us. We manufacture and deliver solar mounting systems and carports, and like any business, our work is only as good as the people behind it.

 

Action in mental health doesn’t always mean grand gestures. It can be as simple as checking in with a colleague, creating space for an honest conversation, or putting in place the kind of support structures that mean people never have to struggle alone. That’s what we’ve tried to do. So, what are we doing to take action?

We Brought in Mental Health First Aiders

We work in a fast-moving industry. Deadlines are real. Pressure is real. And for a long time, the stigma of opening up when it comes to mental health in the workplace is still a big taboo. We want to change that from the inside out.

 

So how did this come about? The honest answer is that this came from listening to our people, not from a tick-box exercise. Through our suggestion scheme, our team told us this mattered to them, and that was enough for us to act and invest. Everyone struggles at some point; we’re only human. And when that happens, the last thing anyone should feel is alone or unsure of where to turn.

 

The decision to bring Mental Health First Aiders into Solarport was driven by a desire to be proactive rather than reactive. Waiting until someone reaches a crisis point before offering support is simply not good enough.

 

A Mental Health First Aider isn’t a counsellor or a therapist. They’re a colleague. Someone trained by MFHA England to notice when things don’t seem right, to have a conversation without making it a big deal, and to help point someone in the right direction if they need more support. That’s it. But that simplicity is exactly what makes it valuable.

 

When someone is struggling, the idea of approaching HR or a manager can feel like a big step. Knowing there’s someone on your team or someone you already know can make that first conversation feel far more manageable.

 

All five of our Mental Health First Aiders, from across multiple company departments, completed the two-day MHFA England training in April. But what we’re most proud of isn’t the qualification. It’s that they put their hands up to do this because they genuinely care about the people around them. Not only that, but our increased interest led to eight more people (working remotely and in the office) completing a day MHFA Champion session, so they can also support where needed.

 

Zara Taylor, Head of Marketing, was one of those who is now a Mental Health First Aider:

“I signed up for the MHFA course because I’ve seen first-hand how much it can mean to have someone in your corner when things get tough, and I’ve been on both sides of that. In my day-to-day role, I spend a lot of time thinking about how we communicate as a business, but this felt like a chance to show up for my colleagues in a much more personal way. What struck me during the training was our instructor’s point that most companies have one, maybe two, Mental Health First Aiders. We turned up with five.”

The Other Stuff We’ve Put in Place

2026 is already a big year for action at Solarport. We listened and are now acting.

As one of our core company values, ‘We Care Deeply’, we understand that some days our team may just need a day to rest and reset. We introduced wellness days in addition to annual leave. Some days you just need to stop, and that’s okay. No questions asked.

 

We moved to flexible working with core hours, because life doesn’t always fit around a nine-to-five. And we introduced volunteer days, an initiative run by our ESG Manager, Gemma Holmes, which came directly from our team’s request. The response has been great. People have been supporting elderly residents, volunteering at food banks, mentoring young people, and judging youth engineering competitions. It’s been brilliant to see.

 

And for those who need it, reduced hours options mean personal commitments don’t have to come at the cost of a career.
We’re also bringing back our 12-week virtual walking challenge, and after the response last time, it wasn’t really a question of whether we’d do it again. This year, teams will be making their way virtually across Japan. If you’ve not taken part before, it’s exactly what it sounds like: teams log their steps, track their progress, and travel virtually from one location to the next.

 

“We brought it back because people genuinely loved it. What starts as a bit of a fun wellbeing initiative quickly turns into something else entirely. People are checking the leaderboard and getting a little too competitive. Walking is great for our mental health, and hopefully this year we’ll have better weather to complete it in!”

 

We don’t think any of this is extraordinary. We just think it’s the right way to run a business.

Why This Matters Beyond the Week

We’re proud of what we’ve built at Solarport and what we continue to build. We deliver some of the UK’s largest solar projects, which genuinely contribute to something bigger – the clean energy transition. But none of that happens without the people behind it.
High performance and genuine care go hand in hand. When someone feels supported, they show up differently, more focused, more resilient, more themselves.

 

That’s the kind of business we’re trying to build. Not just one that delivers projects and ticks boxes, but one that people are genuinely glad to be part of and want to work for.

 

Mental Health Awareness Week is a useful reminder. But for us, this isn’t a week. It’s just how we try to operate.

 

Read more about our company here: https://solarportsystems.com/company/