Giving a voice to emotional well-being
This week marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week, and we at Connect want to give a voice to emotional well-being during challenging times. We are always mindful of our staff’s well-being and equally concerned about the mental health of our community, country and the wider world. 
Our well-being ethos is centred around three main principles:
- Connection: We believe strongly in the power of connection and how it can help us build meaningful relationships that make us stronger mentally and emotionally. We strive to create opportunities for meaningful connections within our community and beyond.
- Awareness: Our goal is to increase awareness of mental health issues by giving a voice to emotional well-being to help find the support they need. We work to ensure that our community is equipped with the knowledge and empowered mental strength to identify better signs of mental health problems and to encourage them to seek appropriate treatment and assistance.
- Self-Care: We understand that self-care is essential for maintaining good mental health, so we actively encourage our community to participate in activities promoting well-being and healthy lifestyles. We also advocate for the importance of rest, relaxation, and self-compassion.
Why give a voice to emotional well-being during challenging times
Watchfulness is encouraged as many people may feel hopeless about the rising living costs crisis. However, with that said, the Bank of England’s (BOE) decision to raise the base rate recently didn’t help an already fragile economy. Still, it successfully hindered many mortgagees, which is where we come in.
There is undoubtedly a correlation between financial stress and mental health, as the uncertainty associated with money issues can be overwhelming. Speaking of which, the Mental Health Foundation has selected anxiety as the theme for this year’s awareness week, as increasing costs and financial pressure may cause many to feel apprehensive about meeting their payments. While feeling anxious is a natural response, it can affect our overall well-being if left unmanaged.
With the knowledge that financial concerns can influence mental health, we urge companies to be mindful of this and support customers struggling with mental health issues due to financial worries. As much as we want to give a voice to emotional well-being during challenging times and champion well-being, our core strength lies within financial services. As a company in the financial industry, we are equipped to help customers struggling with mental health issues due to financial concerns by offering a range of tailored financial services such as;
- Refinancing (remortgage)
- Bridging loan
- Second Charge
- Equity release
Although this differs from therapy or debt management solutions, what we offer could also be considered peace of mind. The customer may want to avoid the latter but needs to be made aware of their options, especially in cases where a struggling customer’s fixed rate might have ended or maybe on an unfavourable rate.
A solution could be an equity release or a remortgage for debt consolidation purposes or to have a more manageable monthly repayment. Other constraints include; if a customer’s current mortgage has a high early repayment charge, it might be cheaper to take out a second charge mortgage rather than remortgage to release equity to ease their financial burdens.
Our message: we should all give a voice to emotional well-being during challenging times. In addition, we no longer want our community to suffer in silence if you have a mortgage and require advice. We can help elevate some of these unwanted stress levels. We urge our community to take the time this week and, in general, to look after their mental health and seek the help they rightfully deserve in whatever capacity. Do not ignore the signs; speak up.
