wellbeing

The House magazine and the Staff Room newsletter present: The House Staffer Network series

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Building on the success of last year’s packed The House magazine Staffer Reception and the launch of The Staff Room newsletter now with over 700 subscribers, we’re excited to expand our support for parliamentary staff with The House Staffer Network series.

Hosted in Parliament, these in-person workshops are designed to help you sharpen your skills, tackle real workplace challenges, and connect with peers from across the political spectrum. Whether you’re new to Westminster or looking to make a greater impact in your role, this is your space to learn, share, and grow.

The first workshop you can sign up to attend is: HEALTH AND WELLBEING IN THE WORKPLACE

Tuesday, 1 July 2025 | 19:15 – 21:00 | Attlee Suite, Portcullis House

In this workshop, we’ll cover:

  • Practical wellbeing tips for maintaining balance in your busy role
  • Strategies for supporting colleagues and fostering a healthy work environment
  • Tools to enhance your personal and team wellbeing

Sign up here

All workshops will include an informal reception, offering a chance to network with other staffers and discuss shared challenges and experiences.

If you would prefer to RSVP via email or if you have any questions about the event, please do not hesitate to contact us here.

And if you haven’t already, don’t miss out – sign up to the Staff Room newsletter from The House today.

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.

The Benefits of Group Supervision for MP’s Staff

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Virtual meeting from the Wellness Working Group

Speaker: Sue Hampson
Time: 11:00 – 12:00
Date: Thursday 7th November 2024

Sue has been a practising counsellor, supervisor and trainer for over 20 years. She was the Beyond Trauma National Training Officer at Health in Mind from 2004 – 2006.

Group Supervision will enable staff to safely and confidently respond to and work with disclosures of traumatic experiences by constituents. It helps to build staff capacity and the quality of response that we as MPs staff are able to offer, as well as providing us with a safe space in which to talk about the impact of those disclosures on ourselves.

The cost of Group Supervision is claimable through the Wellbeing Budget (part of the Staffing Budget) that IPSA provides to MP’s Offices.

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

Calling all runners – Three Bridges Race

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Are you a runner? How do you fancy having a go at the Three Bridges Race in your lunchtime?

The monthly Three Bridges Race from Westminster Bridge to Vauxhall Bridge, via Lambeth Bridge (the Three Bridges) has been going for nearly fifty years. It’s 2.3 miles, starting at 12.30pm on a Wednesday (ok, not great for PMQs).

For more information please see https://www.threebridgesrace.uk/

Wellness Working Group Survey

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An update from the Director of Members’ Staff Engagement

The Director of Members’ Staff Engagement has provided an update on progress made against the recommendations in the report, which you can find on the intranet here: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/information-resources/news-newsletters-notices/news/2024/september/an-update-from-jo-willows-on-the-wellness-working-group-survey-for-members-staff/

There is also an update on the Speaker’s Conference report on the employment conditions of Members’ staff.

Women’s Parliamentary Football Team

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The Women’s Parliamentary Football Team trains on Wednesday mornings from 0800 to 0900 and they have 5-a-side matches on Mondays for 30 mins in a league.

The football team is a great group to have fun, make friends and get some exercise before / after work!  We’ve had amazing events too, such as hosting the Women’s Afghan Refugee Football Team, training at Tottenham Hotspurs stadium and a match against Camden FC.

If you’re interested in joining, please email Hannah.short@parliament.uk with your phone number &  the name of who you work for.