The Oakridge Centre has appointed a Head of Wellbeing – but what does that mean for the business?

Natalie Griffiths, who was appointed to the role in February 2021 said it was an honour to be appointed as the Head of Wellbeing in recognition of the support she provides the team, in particular thoughout the coronavirus pandemic. Natalie takes on this new role alongside her current role of Business Support Manager.

The pandemic caused a huge shift in the way The Oakridge Centre operated – moving quickly from face to face training to creating online solutions, almost overnight. The team quickly established ways to keep in touch and share learnings, by way of Monday morning ‘Coffee & Chat’ meetings, Friday afternoon ‘Lunch & Learn’ sessions, and ‘Virtual Office’ drop-ins – all of which are highly valued by the team and supported by Natalie.

From the success of these sessions and the engagement they created, Natalie went further to maintain the ‘family feel’, so valued by The Oakridge Centre team, by hosting team events on Zoom – a quiz night; a virtual raffle; a wellbeing night and a virtual races event which raised money for charity. She even spent a full Sunday hand delivering Christmas Party gift bags to the team – socially distanced of course – in preparation for the virtual Christmas Do, which she planned and that went down a storm with everyone who attended.

Natalie also encourages sharing on the team WhatsApp group – from photos of everyone’s furry friends, to lockdown haircuts, to scavenger hunts. She even collected and shared 26 messages from friends, family and colleagues which showcased the most positive things people had taken away from lockdown. This was in aid of the 2.6 challenge – which raised money for Macmillan Cancer Support – and in the hope of inspiring others to focus on the positives too.

Natalie was was delighted to be announced as winner of the Made In Manchester 2021 ‘Business Support Professional of the Year’ Award, and finalist for the ‘Lockdown Hero’ Award. She is also a Mental Health First Aider which will no doubt be a great support for her in this new appointment.

As Head of Wellbeing, Natalie says she now plans to dedicate more time to connect with the team on a one-to-one basis to provide support as needed, to host more events, and to continue thinking up creative ways to keep everyone connected and focussed on the positives. She started a Mindfulness Teacher Training course in February 2021 which has been a dream and goal for her for some time now. She hopes this will enable her to not only provide another source of support to  her colleagues, but also to our customers. We are looking forward to more mindful moments and meditations!

You can connect with Natalie on LinkedIn