Case Study National Highways - How to run the Green Ribbon Campaign in person

Step 1:  Have visible leadership

• Be sure you have a respected leader onboard. Someone who is willing to talk about a time when they have struggled and how they got through. This can be in person or via video/blog showing them wearing their green ribbon if you have people on multiple sites to kick off the campaign. This creates a safe space for others to follow.

Step 2: Create a working group

• Have a project lead who brings together in good time a small working group of willing, influential volunteers that can and will take part in the campaign and who are happy to actively encourage others – the ripple effect!
• Ensure your group is diverse, this creates an inclusive campaign. Use trusted sources for any statistics/information shared, such as Mind, NHS, Samaritans.
• Ensure your groups includes your communication’s team. You may have great ideas but you will need their support at all stages. Listen to their advice – if they are suggesting what you have planned is too much/too complex to communicate, it istime for a review.

Step 3:  Keep it simple

• Start with the end in mind. What do you what this year’s campaign to help positively change in the organisation and why?
• Develop one clear takeaway message to support that. Successful national mental health organisations have used It's ok not to be ok or It's time to talk.

• Make it easy for colleagues to join in to the support change you want to see. Test in advance whether your idea/s work for all your key target audiences, eg people that work part time or shifts.

Step 4:  Keep it fresh

• Keep it simple but energy may wane if you do the same thing year in year out. Consider new approaches to keep engagement high.  See ideas below.

Step 5:  Capture and share the moment

• If you can, take and share photos on a notice-board or if across multiple sites via your internal social media pages, to capture and share the participation in the day. This also helps share the campaign with those that could not attend.

Some tried and tested engagement activities

• An open door event with a talk from one of your business leaders to start the conversation about mental health and wellbeing, difficult times and support.
• An activity (see Time to Talk examples), with if possible the hook of healthy snacks and drinks.
• Selfie boards – create a selfie board for your campaign and get a team to “Walk the floors” at each location to take snaps of colleagues showing their support. Have a few volunteers lined up.
• Share self-care messages. Shall we take 5? Fancy a cuppa?
• Use gratitude messages – they help create a culture of making it ok to get support by asking colleagues to openly thank colleagues who have supported them.