World Mental Health Day, 2026 theme: “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change”.
Inside this month’s issue:
- What’s been happening: Celebrating and visiting new places
- What’s new: New thoughts and approaches for World Mental Health Day
- What’s coming up: Let’s talk about poor productivity and the connection with poor mental health
We are: Supportive – Curious – Welcoming – Encouraging – Straightforward.
We are Garrett Learning.
What’s been happening?
It’s great to have a moment to reflect. September has been a wonderful month in many ways. I celebrated my 44th birthday by wingwalking (surprise present from the hubby!) and experienced a weekend city break in Krakow and visited Auschwitz and the Salt Mines.
Upcoming events at Garrett Learning Oct – Dec 2026 (1)
We exhibited at the Chamber of Commerce Expo for Herefordshire and Worcestershire and made some fantastic connections with local and national businesses.
I fulled my own creativity cup by attending Ideasfest, which is said to be the ‘Glastonbury for business owners’.
We delivered in-person training with Morgan Motors, and I co-led the ‘Turning Progress into Potential’ section of ‘Momentum’ where we coached people to make progress in life, business and their careers.
What’s coming up?
World Mental Health Day was on Saturday 10th October. The 2026 theme is “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change” . Please take a look at the World Health Organisation write-up about it by clicking here.
There are lots of ways your organisation can get involved:
- Consider implementing the Wellbeing Action Plans to get the conversations started (please ensure your line managers receive training on carrying out these conversations). Mind have a fantastic template and lots of videos and blogs on lived experiences.
- ‘Wear green, be seen’ to build an open community and get behind the campaign.
- Replace any sit-down meeting by going outside to talk and share, let the conversations flow and connections to be made.
We know that people who experience poor mental health can find elements of work challenging and their performance and productivity can be affected. However, we might not know how to manage this effectively.
Please join us on Wednesday 14th October at 15:00-15:50GMT, where the Workplace Wellbeing Champions will be joined by Nicola Charlwood from Holistic HR Consultant who will be talking about poor productivity and mental health.
If you’d like to connect with Nicola before the session, please connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-charlwood-holistic-hr/
Or visit the Holistic HR Consultant’s website
For the Workplace Wellbeing Champion Session, please register here for the Zoom link: https://www.garrettlearning.co.uk/services/workplace-well-being-champion/
Come and connect with like-minded MHFAiders, wellbeing ambassadors, people managers and the HR team to embed their learning and to bridge the gap with some support, learning and growth. You’ll be able to ask your questions, keep up to date with your learning and development and collaborate with others during our complimentary session.
Upcoming training until the end of year is as follows:
If you have any questions or queries, please do reach out to me: wendy@garrettlearning.co.uk or Whatsapp: +447859 878 599
What’s new?
We have been having conversations about coaching out people managers. The certificate has been received!
It will be filed in my National Record of Achievement, do you still have yours?!
I’m really excited to start supporting people through coaching. I recently hosted as a table expert at Momentum, a development day for the Women Who Business Networking Community and it was great to give people the time and space to think about what they want to work on and achievable goals to set for themselves.
I am really excited to support our people managers in our workplaces too. We are having introductory conversations with new and emerging managers. Are you curious about coaching too and if it’s right for you? If so, book in a chat for the exploration Session (30 minutes) No pressure. No awkward sales pitch. A relaxed, curiosity-led conversation where we:
- Get to know each other. Explore what’s going on for you right now.
- Clarify what you’d love to change, improve, or feel more confident about.
- Check we’re a good fit (because great coaching only works when it feels right)
You’ll leave this session with a fresh perspective and at least one useful takeaway, even if you decide not to continue.
Why do I support the new and emerging or ‘Accidental Manager’?
For me, I’ve been there, thrown in at the deep end and now need a new set of skills to manage people. Now responsible for having difficult conversations, giving feedback, managing performance and motivating the team. I would like to offer that support and provide a space to enable people to grow and develop with confidence.
Being promoted with little or no training and support: what we refer to as the accidental manager, doesn’t mean an incompetent people manager. It means someone who found themselves managing people without necessarily choosing, preparing or training for it.
Maybe you have experienced poor management yourself. Coaching can help you develop your own leadership style, build confidence and learn how to lead with clarity and compassion.
You might find that everyone comes to you as a manager for answers and advice. This can be exhausting. Coaching gives you the confidential space to talk to someone external; you can step back, think clearly and work through those challenges that come with leading people.
Do you know someone- perhaps it’s you who falls into this category? I’d love to explore how coaching could help and learn a little more about what’s going on for you right now: https://scheduler.zoom.us/garrettlearning/1-1-cuppa-and-chat
Together we can help new and emerging managers become confident, capable and compassionate people leaders.
To learn more, please visit my website page on coaching. https://www.garrettlearning.co.uk/services/coaching/
Garrett Learning creates welcoming, memorable, and learner-focused learning experiences to reach individual and business goals. Book a discovery call with us to see how Garrett Learning (www.garrettlearning.co.uk ) can help:
- People Manager Coaching
- Leadership and development sessions
- MHFA England Programmes Open courses
- Lunch and learn bitesize workshops
- Bespoke training
- Join our complimentary monthly online session for support, growth and guidance
Book a chat with Wendy here: https://scheduler.zoom.us/garrettlearning/1-1-cuppa-and-chat
We (Wendy and her growing team!) are here for you when you need us. We are here to hear you! We are kind in nature and open to hearing everyone’s point of view. Our training and overall learning experiences are built to ensure you feel comfortable and can be yourself.
If you want to discuss your future plans, I’d love to hear them! Get in touch!
m: 07859 878 599
c: https://scheduler.zoom.us/garrettlearning/1-1-cuppa-and-chat
l: www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-garrett-7522bb50/
f: www.facebook.com/GarrettLearning
i: www.instagram.com/garrettlearning
t: www.tiktok.com/@garrettlearning
See you soon,
Wendy
