“Workplaces have a responsibility to care for their employees and there is such a huge opportunity within workplaces to drive positive change around mental health.”

Hannah Meredith is MVF’s Health & Wellbeing Partner and creator of their ‘Be Well’ strategy. Hannah is driven to destigmatise mental health and normalise honest and open conversations about mental health at work, which she achieves by sharing her own experiences, such as her moving mental health story.

Drawing from her personal experience Hannah has helped develop strategies for MVF that encourage the priority of mental health and wellbeing, through physical, psychological and social support.

We recently caught up with Hannah to discuss her achievements so far, her journey with wellbeing as an employee, and any plans for the future to encourage positive wellbeing in the workplace.  

Firstly, Hannah told us about what winning this award meant to her, “I’m so passionate about talking about mental health and sharing my experiences in the hope it will encourage others to do the same but I would not expect it to win me an award! It’s definitely one of my proudest moments.” 

Discussing how she has embarked on her journey with wellbeing, Hannah told us about how the lack of support she had received throughout her life when it came to wellbeing helped push her to do what she does today. “Due to my own experiences and not having appropriate help or support for a huge chunk of my life I’m driven to destigmatize mental health and normalise honest and open conversations - and most importantly encourage others to seek help. 

“I really believe workplaces have a responsibility to care for their employees and there is such a huge opportunity within workplaces to drive positive change around mental health.” 

Due to her own personal journey with mental health and wellbeing, Hannah is committed to bettering the workplace, to encourage open and honest conversation around the topic. One way she has done this was through the creation of MVF’s ‘Be Well’ strategy, where MVF ensures that all employees “have a great experience at, and feel supported by, MVF in the moments that matter, whether that’s times of ill health; grief; family changes; parenthood and more.” 

Hannah has already achieved great things in her efforts to support the workplace wellbeing movement, and she’s not stopping yet. When discussing the future of MVF and how she plans to advance her commitments she said, “I recently launched Family Forward, MVF’s first global parental care plan which supports and equips working parents to thrive, both at work and at home - demonstrating MVF’s dedication to offering an inclusive and world-class Health & Wellbeing offering. 

“Themes such as Neurodiversity, Reproductive Health and Financial wellbeing are the next ‘elements’ to be added and fully embedded into the Be Well strategy,” she added.

Lastly, we asked Hannah if she had one piece of advice for others looking to improve wellbeing in their workplace, “Try to create an open environment to have safe conversations around mental health. This is something businesses can do (by senior leaders role modelling this behaviour) and invest in (with support benefits and dedicated roles) but also individuals can do this by really checking in with one another and sharing their own experiences. 

“You don’t have to have all the answers, being there and listening to someone goes a long way.”