The stresses of the pandemic have focused attention on health and wellness, and as we return to a more familiar life, the stress isn’t going away. It’s more that new ones are emerging, and the need for support will continue as we all face what The Daily Telegraph describes as “Covid anxiety syndrome,” in the struggle to reintegrate after prolonged lockdowns.

It’s the kind of challenge that requires a truly holistic approach to wellness. We have an opportunity to reset, and to understand that continued investment in our people is beneficial to the business as well as to individuals. The result is better, smarter work for our clients and a life that is more rewarding and fulfilling than it was pre-pandemic. 

The team at Bray Leino, a MISSION agency based in a largely rural area, has lived by this principal for decades by actively encouraging the staff to be a part of the local community in a way that promotes wellbeing at a deeper level. 

Founder David Morgan began supporting the local North Devon Hospice more than thirty years ago, and that support has evolved into an inspiring example of how a true partnership can impact a charity’s effectiveness and elevate an agency’s sense of purpose. 

Recently the agency created a “Forever Stone”, a physical, augmented-reality installation in the hospice grounds to encourage legacy-giving. For Pete, a creative at the agency, his part in promoting a more consistent source of funds has been “deeply fulfilling, and a real privilege.”

This kind of community involvement has expanded over the years to include cleaning up local beaches and supporting the next generation in local schools and colleges. For seniors, the Christmas lunch event, featuring a full meal, live entertainment and plenty of festive good cheer, continued despite pandemic restrictions: the 2020 event involved personally delivering home-made hampers to 47 seniors throughout the community.  

In early 2020, during the COVID crisis, the agency helped launch a programme called Life Lines to connect families with loved ones in hospital through video calling, including the creation of a Life Lines brand, to promote the service and encourage adoption.  

To make these and other projects work, Bray Leino CEO Kate Cox and her team allocate proper agency resources and empower those involved to make a genuine impact. She says: “We try to help wherever we can, but we’d much rather make a proper, sustained difference to a few really important projects than stretch our resources and dilute our impact. Sometimes that’s hard to hear but we find people usually understand and respect our honesty.”

Starting in mid-2019, the team also applied this ethos internally, creating a Wellness programme for the agency’s 130 staff.  Kate adds, “The Wellness programme is all about helping people to be the best version of themselves and manage any issues they might be experiencing so that they can bring their whole self to work.”Each person’s wellness is a personal thing, owned by the individual. But the business has an overall responsibility to provide the right conditions, advice and support to help people achieve that best version of themselves. 

This can be anything from a well-being checklist to a breathing techniques video, or the “No meetings, we’re eating” programme that ensures everyone takes a breather each day, whether they’re in the office or working from home. The programme’s pillars are “connect / be active / take notice / learn / give,” and everyone in the agency is encouraged to have their own Wellness objective, which can be as big or as little as they want.

Clients too have bought in too. One senior client says: “I think I may FYI this around our business as a subtle hint!” another adds, “Well done on these initiatives and we’ll make sure these times are protected.” 

As with the community projects, wellness is regarded as a fundamental part of the agency’s

operations and is thus a core pillar of the annual plan, which means it receives proper resource allocation each year.

Kate says: “Part of what’s been so inspiring is seeing people from right across the business get involved and work together to take care of each other. And we’ve started seeing people share the learnings, techniques and knowledge externally on their own personal social media, with friends and family, which must mean it’s really valued.”

Which feels, to me, like it’s come full circle: what started out thirty years ago as caring for those outside, came inside with wellness and is now – happily – leaking outside again.