The Kaleidoscope Plus Group

Mental health charity Kaleidoscope Plus Group (KPG) practises what it preaches by giving staff an hour during the working week to invest in their own wellbeing.

During the paid ‘practice what we preach' hour, employees can catch up with a friend, go for a walk, complete an e-learning course or other activity that nourishes their health.

The charity provides mental health services to children, young people and adults on a national basis, along with bespoke mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention training to individuals and organisations alike.

Established in 1973, the organisation was originally affiliated to the national mental health charity Mind and was known as Sandwell Mind.

In 2013, it became the Kaleidoscope Plus Group, a name which represents what colleagues and service users believe it does – bring colour back into people's lives.

It does this holistically by linking lots of different services and people together to help people who work with them or use their services to cope with the ever-changing face of life.

Recent initiatives to support employees' health and wellbeing include a SharePoint page to direct them to the staff perks that are on offer, such as nutritional advice and discounted gym memberships. Weekly ‘chai and chat' sessions were launched during the pandemic and staff could work together in a virtual office.

Concerns that clunky IT was making some colleagues' jobs unnecessarily difficult led to the system being upgraded. The charity's laptops are also being replaced.