Wellbeing

“At Whistles, our people are at the heart of our business. We are proud to have a team that is so engaged with our brand values and that helps to shape many of our initiatives.

We run regular workshops for our teams with a focus on both physical and mental wellbeing, from support with nutrition and sleep to self-care advice. We also host guest speaker events on a range of well-being topics and partner with The Retail Trust for a range of support services.”

Claire Healy, Head of HR

STRESS AWARENESS MONTH
We have launched Stress Awareness Month to help employees manage stress and build on their resilience. We send weekly emails and share Ted talks, articles and videos, which incorporate case studies of inspirational personal journeys where trauma was encountered and overcome, and as a result, the philosophy these individuals used to help develop resilience.

SELF-CARE SEPTEMBER
September 2021 saw the launch of Self-Care September at Whistles; a wellbeing programme encouraging the prioritisation of ‘you’ and we provided lots of tips, articles, videos, and wider content around self-care, self-compassion, mindfulness, health, nutrition, sleep and meditation.

WORKSHOPS
We run a variety of workshops for both our Head Office and store teams to support learning and development.

RETAIL TRUST PARTNERSHIP
We partner with Retail Trust to offer financial, emotional and mental health support to all employees and their immediate families. They also provide an online wellbeing portal to all employees to allow them to access support tools confidentially at any time.

MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AIDERS
We have supported a growing number of Mental Health First Aiders through an accredited training programme with Mental Health First Aid England and who can offer support, guidance and advice to those struggling with mental health across all our store and head office teams.

GUEST SPEAKERS
We regularly host guest speaker events who support our programme of education on inclusion and diversity topics, wellbeing and holistic health.

CHARITY DAYS
We encourage all our employees to support charities by taking part in charity events and offering a paid charity day which Whistles teams can use to support a cause that is close to their hearts.

FLEXIBLE WORKING
We are committed to maintaining a flexible approach to office working and now offer a blended work policy which incorporates both office based days and remote working, allowing a mix of working days both in the office and at home to support the work life balance. Many of our retail employees also work flexibly in regards to hours and shift patterns to fit around their commitments outside of work.