Work & Employment

Welcome to the work pages. These pages are run by WorkNET, a partnership of organisations that all have an interest in employment and mental health, enabling people with mental illness to have access to choice in employment and training, and also in promoting good mental health within business. We also work to develop supports to enable people to retain their jobs through difficult times.

We should all be involved in promoting social inclusion because:

• Common mental health problems affect up to one in six of the general population at any one time. Almost everyone will know someone who has had mental health problems at some point in their lives.
• Only 24% of adults with long-term mental health problems are in work. Although work is not the right solution for everyone, with the right support many more would be able to and would like to work.
• Research involving 1596 employees in a range of companies found that only 20% were confident they could manage someone with mental health problems effectively, yet 70% of managers had had to manage someone with a diagnosed mental health problem.

What's in this for you?

In this section you will be able to find:

• Services that support welcoming access to work and employment support services for people with mental ill-health.
• Events about employment.
• Evidence and policy - What works best for people returning to work and how to improve the services you work in to be more welcoming and supportive to people with mental ill-health.
• Guidance and tools that can help people with mental health problems plan their return to work and for employers to support people with mental health problems in work.
• News - stories about people's positive experiences of employment and employment services in the borough.

If you would like more information about work, social inclusion and mental health, Develop can also offer you:

• Discussion Forum - A place to ask questions, find support and obtain advice about mental health matters, getting work and dealing with issues in the workplace. (Available to registered site users).
• Training and support available on enabling people to return to work and mental ill-health in the workplace (from handling stress and promoting mental well-being through to awareness training about mental illness).

If you would like more information about WorkNET please contact: workNET@developbromley.com

View the national database of work bridge-building projects