An Open Letter to the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP & Prime Minister

17^th March, 2020

Dear Prime Minister,

One in three event professionals are currently struggling with their mental health every year, which is double the UK statistic for people in work at one in six.

One in four event professionals struggle with alcohol and drug dependency, 70% struggle with sleep, 85% are struggling with their diet, either eating too much or too little and, the current Covid-19 and public health emergency will only make these matters worse for a lot of the professionals and industry talent that we strive to support.

EventWell as a charitable social enterprise has since 2017 supported the event industry by providing essential mental health and wellbeing training, education and campaigns. Last month we teamed up with Mind and Rethink Mental Health’s Time to Change campaign team to launch the EventWell Manifesto on Event Wellbeing Day 26^th February, to support event industry businesses and employers work towards signing the Time to Change Employer Pledge and incorporate the Governments’ six core standards as outlined in the ‘Thriving at Work Review 2017’. We also fully endorse and back Public Health England’s Every Mind Matters campaign.

We will absolutely continue this support and open up additional new channels, to keep people who depend and are used to a lot of social and professional contact connected, but also to give greater access to mental health and wellbeing advice and, signposting to the essential mental health services that event professionals will undoubtedly need.

With the industry expected to shut down for any period of time, event professionals are facing the prospect of losing their jobs, their livelihoods and their businesses, all factors that can seriously compromise mental, emotional and physical health and wellbeing.

As the Mental Health and Wellbeing Voice of the Event Industry, dedicated to serving the businesses and professionals who work within it, we fully back the proposal to provide emergency economic assistance to the event industry and, are also calling for a guarantee that there will be an additional focus on access to mental health services and, support for the NHS to provide these essential services with minimal delay.

We are asking for the government’s guarantee, so that we in turn can give professionals and talent in an industry that is worth £70bn to the UK annually, and employs approximately 700,000 people the reassurance that their voices are heard and that their contribution to the UK economy matters and is valued.

Most respectfully

Helen Moon (reply helen@eventwell.org)

Managing Director, EventWell Ltd

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You can download a copy of the letter that was posted on the 17th March 2020 here