Dates for your diary
There are so many awareness days, mainly aimed at putting a spotlight on an issue that needs addressing, such as Mental Health Awareness Week, that it can sometimes have the opposite effect and see businesses not wanting to take part in any for fear of missing an important one out. Some appear to be more just for fun, such as Random Acts of Kindness Day, but are spreading a great message and can really cheer up those who are delivering the act of kindness and those in receipt of it. Carried out as a team, and it can turn into a great team bonding exercise too.
If you choose which days you’re going to support carefully, it can really help strengthen your CSR efforts, giving you a programme of planned, strategic activity for the year ahead. You don’t have to go all out on the awareness days you choose, for example:
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Employee Appreciation Day – Leave a small gift for each employee, send a card with a message of thanks for all their hard work or let them have a longer lunch that day.
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Debt Awareness Week – send out communication on your social channels and intranet signposting people to where they can receive advice and help.
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Global Recycling Day – Use this day to highlight what you’re already doing in terms of recycling, or launch a new recycling initiative. Write articles that can be posted on your website, intranet and social sites so all stakeholders are aware of what you are doing. Post suggestions to help people with their recycling, ask staff for their suggestions to share too.
For awareness days your organisation is more focussed on, you can look at a full programme of activities to support it. For Mental Health Awareness Week you could:
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Bring someone in to deliver a talk around how to spot someone suffering with their mental health and how to take the first steps to help
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Train and appoint mental health first aiders – launching this activity during Mental Health Awareness Week
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Offer a confidential counselling service to your staff
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Arrange for stress relieving sessions, such as meditation, massages, yoga, lunch time walks etc. for your teams
The size of your organisation, budget, nature of work and if staff are remote or location based (project/head office), will undoubtably affect what you can do, the above examples are just to get your creative juices flowing.
Below are some of the awareness days/weeks/months that you may want to support:
January
16th – Blue Monday
February
LGBT History Month
2nd – Time to Talk Day
17th Random Acts of Kindness Day
March
4th – Employee Appreciation Day
18th – Global Recycling Day
20th – International Day of Happiness
20th – 26th – Debt Awareness Week
April
Stress Awareness Month
1st – Walk to Work Day
28th – World Day For Safety and Health at Work
May
National Walking Month
4th – World Mental Health Day
9th – 15th – Mental Health Awareness Week
16th – 22nd – Learning at Work Week
21st – World Meditation Day
June
Pride Month
1st – 7th – Volunteers Week
5th – World Environment Day
6th – 12th – National Growing for Wellbeing Week
6th – 12th – Bike Week
16th – World Refill Day
16th – National Clean Air Day
24th – Bring Your Dog to Work Day
26th – 30th – World Wellbeing Week
July
1st – 31st - Talk To Us
Plastic Free July
30th July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons
August
4th – Cycle To Work Day
September
19th – 25th – Recycle Week
19th – 25th – International Week of Happiness at Work
22nd – World Car Free Day
October
7th – World Smile Day
10th – World Mental Health Day
10th – 14th – National Work Life Week
16th – 22nd – Big Energy Saving Week
18th – Anti Slavery Day
November
2nd – 6th – International Stress Awareness Week
6th - National Stress Awareness Day
9th – 13th – Talk Monday Week
22nd – Oceans of Plastic
December
6th - International Volunteers Day
12th – National Workplace Day of Remembrance
If you need any further ideas or assistance, call us on 0330 223 2965 or email cr@collinsmchugh.co.uk we’re more than happy to help!