Stow College

Recognition for Healthy Working Lives

Stow College takes the health and wellbeing of its staff very seriously. The college was one of the first organisations in Scotland to achieve the Healthy Working Lives Gold Award. This success was followed by the achievement of the Mental Health Commendation Award which aims to raise awareness of stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues while promoting positive mental and emotional wellbeing. There are currently only 4 or 5 organisations in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area which hold both the Gold award and the Mental Health Commendation Award – and Stow was one of the first. The College has held the Gold Award standard since 2001 and there are only a handful of organisations in the NHS Greater Glasgow area that have the HWL Gold Award and the Mental Health Commendation Award.

On 1 December the college was visited by Alex Connor and Kevin O’Neill as our three-year re-assessment was due on the Gold award. Alex and Kevin met with Sam Stevenson, Gary Blair, Rita Glackin, Margaret Cairns and Ron Dillin to discuss the extensive portfolio we had submitted. The portfolio contained details of the many awareness campaigns, interactive events, physical activities, training events and policies which the college has run in the last year. Our assessors were happy to note that the college had done even more than was required in order to obtain the gold award and had, in many cases, not only met but surpassed the criteria for the award.

The college received confirmation in the middle of December that they had successfully retained the award. In offering his congratulations, Kevin O’Neill commented on the hard work and enthusiasm of all the staff who are involved in the Healthy Working Lives committee and also those who assist in running events. The award scheme is intended for staff, but of course our learners and the wider community benefit from the activities and events that are organised under the Healthy Working Lives banner.

The Stow team will now concentrate on updating the portfolio for the Mental Health Commendation award which is due for interim assessment in the spring and full re-assessment in July. Assistant Principal Audrey Miller passed on hearty congratulations to Stow’s Healthy Working Lives team.