{"id":8214,"date":"2020-01-30T11:00:47","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T11:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=8214"},"modified":"2023-01-16T14:22:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T14:22:57","slug":"blue-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/blue-monday\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Blue Monday can be a good opportunity to raise awareness and encourage action, mental health is a perennial issue and is a subject we make efforts to deal with responsibly at RingCentral.<\/p>\n

In popular culture, the third Monday of January is painted blue as it\u2019s believed by some to be the most \u2018depressing\u2019 day of the year. While this idea has little to no basis in fact \u2013 the formula used to identify the date is given no credence by scientists \u2013 the social recognition of a date on which to focus positive intentions can be a useful initiative. Many businesses use the date as a chance to raise mental health awareness among their employees, employing fundraising activities or campaigns such as \u2018<\/span>Brew Monday<\/span><\/a>\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many of us, January feels like a long month. After the Christmas break, coupled with its spending and indulgence, January can be a month of temperance and restriction. Payday can seem a long way off. The nights are still long, the temperature drops; the supermarkets are already promoting Easter treats but the campaigns feel cynical. Summer holidays appear far off.<\/span><\/p>\n

To recognise the cause, to help keep morale high and to raise some money for appropriate charities, we got together to do something we\u2019re really good at: we ate cakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some people bought cakes, some people brought plates, some people even home baked. Halfway through the morning we put out the call encouraging people to grab a bite to eat and contribute to the collection box. At the end of the day, we counted up the money from the box and sent it towards <\/span>Mind<\/span><\/a>, a mental health awareness charity. Mind provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing mental health problems. It also campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding around mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n

The aims of the charity fit right in with our goals of raising awareness around depression, stress and mental health in general. At RingCentral we believe it’s important that we promote mental health \u2013 not just on this day, but all year round \u2013 and that people know support is always freely available, whether it be speaking with a line manager or colleague, or using the Vitality private medical service via our Employee Assistance Programme, there\u2019s always help and no one should suffer in silence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"UK<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To bring further attention to the cause (it\u2019s easy to get lost in the clamour of office activity) we arranged for our colleagues to wear blue to work, following the \u2018Blue Monday\u2019 theme. Despite the office being quiet due to our annual Kick-Off, we managed to get a group together for a photo opp \u2013 check them out in the picture above! To top it all off, we distributed messages on our internal communications tool reminding everyone to share \u2018Kudos\u2019 with colleagues as a way of expressing gratitude. As I\u2019ve said before \u2013 it only takes a second to say \u201cthanks\u201d or \u201cgood job\u201d but it can have a lasting impression.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you or your colleagues participate in any Blue Monday \/ mental health awareness raising activities? What are you doing to promote health work\/life balance in your organisation? Leave your comments below \u2013 I\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While Blue Monday can be a good opportunity to raise awareness and encourage action, mental health is a perennial issue and is a subject we make efforts to deal with … Read more “Blue Monday”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":8217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBlue Monday | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mental health is a perennial issue and is a subject we make efforts to deal with responsibly at RingCentral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/blue-monday\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RingCentral Team\" \/>\n\t<meta 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