Published
By Ashley Cox
At Crescent Purchasing Consortium, people are at the heart of everything we do, thus keeping our people fit and well is the heartbeat of our success, contributing to what makes us an accredited Great Place To Work®.
CPC recognises the challenges faced by our valued, diverse staff as part of their everyday lives and we respond accordingly, placing wellbeing on our front line of priorities. From family complications to financial concerns, today's world seems to serve up a constant supply of curveballs, designed to knock us off-track and affect our ability to be our best. By accepting these realities, we hope to have established a compassionate, empathetic workplace, one where stigmas are actively challenged and personal challenges professionally accommodated.
CPC aims to equip employees with tools to help manage their circumstances, providing support, guidance and patience, while empowering staff to help teammates in trouble. A central component is our Wellbeing Support Team, comprised of staff from across the organisation. The WST are on hand to support our employees’ physical and mental wellbeing and include trained Mental Health First Aiders, who can serve as a friendly first port of call.
Our staff intranet meanwhile sees advice, information and resources shared, amplifying the conversation about our wellbeing, while providing a variety of support. The platform also carries a five-level mood feature, with the ability to send instant feedback to line managers, establishing an overall group mood from all those utilising the facility.
This past year saw the introduction of new men's and women's groups, allowing CPC staff to discuss potentially sensitive matters in confidence, sharing experiences and opening new doors to potential wellbeing solutions. By making our workers comfortable engaging with wellbeing matters, we aim to be part of the wider effort and are proud to be playing our part, as the UK recognises the importance of prioritising wellbeing in a challenging age.
CPC is proud to have been recognised externally, accredited as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Wellbeing for 2024. This follows the introduction of our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which is available to all CPC staff and facilitates access to free professional counselling and more. Furthermore, we are delighted to have supported multiple wellbeing projects as part of our charitable remit, with funding distributed to a number of institutions in aid of these initiatives. At Harrow’s Jubilee Academy, over £10,000 in Giving Back cash helped to deliver specialist support activities for pupils suffering exam stress, self-confidence issues and low self-esteem. This was followed by a similar investment in Darlington's Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, providing over 1,900 students with 24/7 counselling availability. Meanwhile, other contributions have been made to London’s Chelsea Academy, Taunton’s Richard Huish College and the Lighthouse Learning Trust, aiding student wellbeing via a variety of approaches.
2025 will see CPC expand its efforts to support wellbeing at UK education institutions, with wellbeing one of three new areas of emphasis adopted by Giving Back for our upcoming funding application window (more details here).
Wellbeing is one of the utmost challenges of our times, but it is a challenge we must meet, head-on.
After all, a well employee is a happy employee - and we hope, at CPC, you can be both.
Our latest career opportunities at CPC can be found via the Careers page of our site.