Helping those who help others – supporting the mental health of charity staff and volunteers
03/26/2025
Charities are facing unprecedented demand for their services, with 9% of people across the UK now being supported by a charity, up from just 3% in 2020.
This surge in demand has particularly affected charities that work with vulnerable individuals. While these charities face the challenge of continuing to support service users with stretched resources, they must also consider the wellbeing of their staff and volunteers.
In recent years, there has been a significant rise in charity employees and volunteers reporting symptoms of workplace stress. The challenges associated with supporting vulnerable individuals with complex needs can exacerbate other triggers of poor mental health.
In this article, we discuss how to identify when someone might be struggling, and the importance of taking a proactive approach to positive mental health.
Spotting the signs of poor mental health
Recognising not only when someone is experiencing poor mental health, but also when it might be appropriate to intervene and offer them support, can be challenging. The NCVO has published some useful guidance on signs that someone might be struggling with poor mental health.
These could include:
- Unhealthy working practices, such as: working or volunteering when unwell; not taking breaks; or using annual leave to catch up on work
- Changes in behaviour, such as: becoming withdrawn, isolated, abrupt, short-tempered, or forgetful; having recurring headaches/migraines or other physical ailments; difficulty sleeping; or poor personal hygiene.
While in isolation, these symptoms will not necessarily mean someone is experiencing poor mental health, if you notice a combination or repeated instances of these symptoms, it may be a time to have a conversation with your employee or volunteer.
The NCVO guidance includes some useful tips about how to approach conversations with colleagues around mental health.
Promoting self-care
One of the ways you can look to support your people is by helping them to build their personal resilience through self-care techniques. Mind has published some useful self-care tips that you could share with employees or volunteers - not only at the point that you think they might be experiencing poor mental health, but also proactively as part of your wider mental health strategy.
While Mind’s self-care tips are aimed at carers, some will apply to any type of role that involves supporting vulnerable individuals.
For example:
- Finding someone to talk to – this could be a family member or friend, a support group, or a counsellor
- Being realistic – writing down lists of what you can realistically achieve in your role, and any support you might need, in order to avoid feelings of being overwhelmed
- Taking small, regular breaks – making time for yourself, for example going for a walk or run, or turning your phone off
- Looking after your physical health – including diet, sleep and exercise
If your charity offers an employee assistance programme (EAP), make sure your employees know about the support offered and how to access it.
Mental health training for managers
One of the challenges many organisations face is that those in management and other senior roles often feel they lack the skills, knowledge or experience to adequately support colleagues experiencing poor mental health. A survey by training provider MHFA England found one-third (33%) of managers feel out of their depth when it comes to conversations around mental health.
Mental health training can give managers more confidence to identify the signs of poor mental health and better equip them to have conversations with their teams about such topics.
Training can take a variety of forms, from e-learning to in-person workshops, and can cover everything from mental health awareness, to mental health first aid. The latter typically covers common mental health scenarios and how to manage them (see for example St John Ambulance’s range of mental health training courses).
David Hounsell, Senior Risk Consultant, Zurich Resilience Solutions, says that while it's important to provide mental health training, there also needs to be a clear mechanism for monitoring and measuring the uptake.
He says: “If your training isn’t mandatory, there’s a real risk that people won’t consider it a priority. It’s also important that training isn’t limited to mental health first aid. There needs to be a clear focus on preventing problems developing in the first place.”
For David, positive workplace mental health – sometimes referred to as psychosocial health – begins with an understanding and acknowledgement of the diverse factors that can impact it. These can include an individual’s physical and psychological health, but also their relationships with their colleagues, their feelings of being part of a safe and supportive workplace, and their trust in their organisation’s values, including its ethical standards and commitment to diversity and inclusion.
For charity employees or volunteers working with vulnerable individuals, risk factors might include feelings of loneliness, social isolation and excessive workload. There could also be cultural factors to consider, for example if an employee or volunteer new to the UK is simultaneously getting used to life in a new country and the demands of their role.
David says: “The process of supporting the mental health of your employees and volunteers should begin the moment they join your organisation.
For example, do you give them sufficient support to understand and prepare for their role? Do you signpost them to your mental health policy (assuming you have one)? Do you provide training on dealing with difficult situations? Do you provide a mechanism for them to access support afterwards?
Organisations really need to take the same proactive approach to mental health that they would for physical health and safety risks, rather than just responding when something goes wrong.
You wouldn’t ask somebody to work at height or with heavy machinery without giving them appropriate support and guidance, so why should mental health be any different?”
Further support and guidance
Read some of our previous News and Insight articles on mental health topics.
- Carer strain: Recognising and easing the burden of care
- How to carry out a psychosocial risk assessment
- From burnout to breach: How employee wellbeing impacts cybersecurity
See also the NCVO’s guidance on workplace wellbeing.
