Roman Kemp speaks to FCDO Services about mental health
4 June 2021
At FCDO Services, we place a lot of focus on the wellbeing of our colleagues. Roman Kemp, Capital FM radio DJ and documentary maker, was recently invited to give a talk about mental health, and specifically male suicide.
Roman Kemp created the BBC documentary ‘Our Silent Emergency’ to raise awareness of the scale of male suicide, it’s impact and how we can better support each other. Male suicide is the leading cause of death in the UK for men aged 20 to 45.
During Roman’s honest conversation he talked about his own experiences and some of the big issues around men’s mental health. Many of our colleagues took the opportunity to share their own experiences too.
Roman emphasised the importance of checking in with friends and family, whether they appear to be struggling or not. He echoed his message from his documentary: ask people how they are twice. We often say we’re fine on instinct, and asking twice gives us the opportunity to be honest.
We want to encourage more conversations like this. To make sure our colleagues know they are supported if they are struggling with their mental health, and that they know how to support each other. We have trained Mental Health First Aiders available and can make workplace adjustments for mental health conditions. You can read more about how we support colleagues on our careers website.