Mental health

Access to Work programme (support for mental health)

Access to Work (support for mental health) is a nine month coaching-style programme for individuals whose mental health is impacting on them at work. Read the guide to find out more about this programme. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you can apply to access this programme, either by visiting the Able Futures’ website or by calling: 0800 321 3137.

Introduction to Vivup’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

From April 2025, we have a new counselling provider, Vivup, who also deliver our employee benefits platform which offers a range of lifestyle savings. Vivup’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is available to all employees free of charge.

Vivup’s EAP provides confidential, impartial assistance to help you in times of need, on personal and work-related issues.

The EAP includes:

  • 24/7, 365 days a year telephone helpline
  • short-term counselling service
  • online health and wellbeing platform – Your Care 

How to access the EAP

There are 3 ways you can contact the telephone helpline/counselling service:

  • Telephone: 0330 380 0658
  • Through Your Care Platform which is accessed through Vivup’s employee benefits platform. You need to register with the employee benefits platform to access.
  • By completing an accessibility form on Your Care requesting the team make contact.

Telephone helpline/counselling service

Vivup’s telephone helpline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You can speak to a professional counsellor or information specialist in confidence.

The telephone helpline is a source of support for information on a wide range of work, family, and personal issues. There is unlimited access to the telephone helpline for calls that do not require structured counselling sessions.

Here are some examples of the topics which the helpline and/or the counselling service can support with (this is not an exhaustive list):

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Bereavement and loss
  • Workplace pressures
  • Bullying and harassment
  • Careers
  • Consumer rights
  • Childcare information
  • Debt
  • Disability and illness
  • Education
  • Elder care information
  • Family issues
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Life events
  • Relationships        

Counselling service

The Pathway of support outlines how telephone calls to the helpline are triaged to determine whether an employee needs ‘in the moment’ support or structured counselling.   
 
Everyone has very individual needs, so support can sometimes vary but in most cases, it will be along the lines of:

  1. Telephone call will be answered by the Triage Team who will ask some questions and carry out an initial risk assessment to ensure they can get you the right type of support.
  2. You may end up receiving 'in the moment’ support (ITMS) conducted by an ITMS counsellor who offers advice or information, or sends supportive information, research of local support agencies, or advice in relation to a concern, along with signposting to other Vivup resources, if appropriate, such as online CBT booklets.
  3. Or you may be booked in for your first structured counselling session; this is normally booked in with a counsellor and this first session will include a more detailed core 34 assessment. You will be sent a Statement of Understanding (which sets out details of the counselling provision, confidentiality and attendance) for signing along with the core assessment, both of which are completed before the first appointment and then your counsellor will go through it with you.  If further sessions are required, this may be with the same counsellor or a different one as Vivup will match you with a counsellor best matched to your presenting issue(s).
     
    In the moment support is available 24/7 so this can also support night workers and employees with work/home commitments.   

Your Care

Your Care is an online health and wellbeing platform delivering effective, evidence-based interventions to help people live healthier lives.  Users have access to their own confidential, personalised dashboard which is specific to their needs.  Health-boosting goals can be set with small sustainable lifestyle changes through personalised gamification, including calls to action, suggestions and prompts in the user’s improvement journey. You can access Your Care via the Vivup employee benefits platform.

Your Care provides:

  •  A suite of assessments to identify the risk of developing any of the five leading lifestyle-related diseases
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) self-help workbooks (some examples include anxiety; health anxiety; depression and low mood; postnatal depression; stress; sleep problems; eating disorders; and anger management)
  • Connectivity with your health apps to automatically track goal progress
  • Blogs, videos, recipes, and more resources to inspire positive change
  • Domestic abuse support via the Brightsky app
  • Debt advice (via Angel Advance which provides 24/7 online debt advice)

Mental health first aiders (MHFAs)

We have a number of mental health first aiders across the directorates who will listen in an empathic, confidential and non-judgemental way to any colleague who is emotionally distressed or experiencing mental health issues. Read the guide to find out more. If you would like a list of the mental health first aiders please email: feelgood.wellbeing@shropshire.gov.uk

Togetherall

Togetherall is a safe, anonymous, online community offering 24/7 peer support for low level mental health issues to improve mental health and wellbeing.