mental health

Join MMSST for Coffee and Chat: Flourish and Nourish

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A celebration of nutrition and wellbeing.
Communications and Administration Network

Food is our fuel, but do we truly understand what nourishes us best? Do you know your food facts? Join us at Flourish and Nourish for a food quiz to test your nutritional knowledge! Your brain, body, and tastebuds will thank you as we explore ways to nourish, flourish and thrive during the colder months.

Agatha Wiseman (our Quiz Master), will be available to talk about the range of wellbeing services available to help you to look after your health and wellbeing as we approach the winter months.

  • Come in person on Thursday 30th Oct 1:30pm – 2:45pm, the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House – Light refreshments will be provided.
  • Come and connect with us virtually on Thursday 6 November, 1:30pm -2:30pm via Teams

Email MMSST@parliament.uk for the link

House Services Fair 2025

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Start: 10:00 on Tuesday 9 December 2025
Finish: 17:00 on Wednesday 10 December 2025
Location: House of Commons

The House Administration is delighted to be bringing back the House Services Fair this year, showcasing the services and support available from the House Administration.

The House Administration is delighted to be bringing back the House Services Fair this year, showcasing the services and support available from the House Administration. 

  • Visit stalls in the Portcullis House Atrium to learn about the wide range of support, services, and facilities available to you. 
  • Take part in a special programme of talks and Q&A sessions
  • Enjoy exclusive tours

Please note there is no booking required to visit the stalls. However, booking will be required for talks and tours. The full programme and information on how to book will be available closer to the event.

The House Services Fair is for Members and Members’ staff of the House of Commons, and colleagues from the House of Commons Administration and Joint Departments.  

For full details, please see here: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/events/2025/december/House_Services_Fair/

Maternal Mental Health Alliance

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Virtual training hosted by the Wellness Working Group

Speaker: Maternal Mental Health Alliance
Time: 14:00 – 15:00
Date: Tuesday 30 September 2025
Location: Online via Teams

Join us to hear from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) who will provide us with information about how we can help support ourselves, colleagues or constituents who may be struggling with their own, or someone else’s mental health during pregnancy, or beyond.

Please email mpsstaff-wwg@parliament.uk for the details and link.

Avoid health misinformation: Improving constituents’ health literacy

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Good Information Toolkit Talk from the House of Commons Library

How does health literacy impact constituents and the NHS? Join us for an essential session focused on improving health literacy, where we will ask:

What is health literacy?

  • Understand the fundamentals and why it’s important for effective communication in our communities.
    Why does it matter to the NHS and your constituents?
  • Discover how improved health literacy can lead to better patient outcomes, reduce health inequalities, and help you support your constituents.
  • How can we empower constituents to understand information about their health
  • Explore how we can improve understanding in written and verbal information. We’ll also step into the shoes of patients who don’t understand what they’re being told about their health, and think about how we can communicate with empathy.

If you’re working in a constituency, this session can help you engage with communities about their health and support informed decision-making.

Time: 14:00
Date: 20 May 2025
Location: Online
Further information and registration: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=7476

Members’ staff Networking Event for Mental Health Awareness Week

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Time: 14:00 – 16:00
Date: Tuesday 13 May 2025
Location: Jubilee Room

Parliament is proud to support Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW), running from Monday 12th – Sunday 18th May 2025.This year’s theme, set by the Mental Health Foundation, is “Community” and the campaign is an opportunity to raise awareness and support good mental health for all.

As part of a wider programme of events taking place throughout MHAW, the Members and Members’ staff Services Team (MMSST)invites all Members’ staff to join us for two events: an in-person networking event on Tuesday 13 May, drop in between 2 – 4 pm in the Jubilee Room, Palace of Westminster. Light refreshments will be provided.

And a virtual Teams event Thursday 15 May, drop in between 1-2 pm. Bring your own tea/coffee and biscuits or a cheeky slice of cake.  

These events are an opportunity for you to connect with fellow Members’ staff and meet colleagues from the services that are here to support you. 

To register please email MMSST@parliament.uk

Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 in Parliament

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Parliament is proud to support Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW), running from 12 – 18 May 2025. MHAW is an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health and share ways to support good mental health for all.  This year, the theme for MHAW set by the Mental Health Foundation is Community.

There is something for everyone this Mental Health Awareness Week, with events and resources open to Members and Members’ staff taking place throughout the week. Join us to celebrate the power and importance of community in supporting mental health this MHAW.

What’s On

  • Attend a special programme of talks, training workshops and networking sessions
  • Visit the MHAW stall in Portcullis House on 13 May
  • Networking events for Members’ staff in-person (13 May) and online (15 May)
  • Explore a collection of on-demand resources including pre-recorded webinars, interactive notice boards, and information about health and wellbeing services available to you.

The programme of events and training courses taking place throughout Mental Health Awareness Week is available to book here on ACT. 

Find out more and stay up to date on Parlinet: ParliNet | Mental Health Awareness Week 2025

Practical recommendations for supporting staff in a political office

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By Jennifer Lees-Marshment
Professor of Political Management and Marketing at The University of Dundee

Wednesday April 2nd at 2pm

This workshop will present practical recommendations for supporting staff in political offices. These were created by interviewing political advisors who worked for Prime Ministers, Ministers and MPs in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand about what they had found worked best within the realities of politics and government.

Participants will also get the opportunity to reflect on which recommendations they might consider implementing, and to share any additional practices they have found useful.

This will be of interest to existing and prospective staffers and special advisers, and those already support and manage colleagues, teams or offices or aspire to in the future.

Brief author intro
Jennifer Lees-Marshment is Professor of Political Marketing and Management at The University of Dundee and interviewed over 65 advisors who worked for Prime Ministers, Ministers and MPs in the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada to identify over 50 best practice recommendations for improving the support and management of political staffers.

To receive the Teams link to this session, please email mpsstaff-wwg@parliament.uk

LAST CHANCE TO RESPOND: MPs’ Staff Survey of Well-being 2024-2025

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The Wellness Working Group is excited to once again share with you the now Annual WWG Survey of Staff working for Members of Parliament

You may remember that the Wellness Working Group undertakes this important anonymous survey of MPs staff to better understand the pressures and effects that our jobs have on our wellbeing. We are delighted that Dr Weinberg from Salford University has agreed to run the survey again for us this year.

The survey is completely anonymous and a chance to be able to help us enact change and to help us all obtain better work places and practices. It should only take about 15 minutes to complete.

Please address any queries you may have to the lead researcher Dr Ashley Weinberg, who is an Occupational Psychologist at the University of Salford: a.weinberg@salford.ac.uk

Men’s Health Awareness stall

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10:30 – 15:30 on Tuesday 26 November 2024

To mark Men’s Health Awareness Month, the Parliamentary Health and Wellbeing Service (PHWS) and Parligender have partnered together with Andy’s Man Club and Prostate Cancer UK.

Andy’s Man Club are a charity who raise awareness for men’s mental health by facilitating groups all across the UK and Prostate Cancer UK are one of the UK’s most well-known charities who raise awareness for Prostate Cancer. 

Visit the stall in Portcullis House between 10:30am – 3:30pm to meet representatives of Andy’s Man Club and Prostate Cancer UK along with PHWS staff. 

There will also be a Men’s Health Awareness workshop at 1pm. 

For further information please visit this page on Parlinet: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/events/2024/november/mens-health-awareness-stall/

Finding balance: Mastering the Art of Work-Life Harmony

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The Wellness Working Group is excited to share the below in-person session that The House is hosting during the New Parliament Fair https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=2294

Please do take a look at what we feel will be a really helpful session

Title:  Finding balance: Mastering the Art of Work-Life Harmony – 14:00 – 14.30pm (Boothroyd Room), 20th November 2024

  • Explore proven techniques for setting boundaries and managing time to enhance both work performance and personal satisfaction.
  • Gain insights on prioritizing tasks and aligning work with personal values for a more fulfilling life.
  • Learn simple adjustments to daily routines that support a healthier, more sustainable balance between work and life.

Booking link here

Maria is a great speaker with a background in psychological wellbeing and really understands the working environment and pressure experienced by Members’ staff.