Say hi to Kelly!

This feels like the perfect time to join Sanctus.

It’s a time when the conversation around Mental Health has finally become something that’s covered in the news every day, sadly driven by the stories of how the pandemic has affected us all individually and collectively, at all ages.

Elite sports stars are openly citing it in a way never seen before as the reason they’ve made fundamental changes to how they engage with their profession and the public.

But it’s also a time when this conversation hasn’t yet been destigmatised or normalised, when awareness is high but acceptance remains low and true understanding is a distant goal; most people aren’t yet comfortable with how to navigate it or talk about it, there is much still to do.  

So it feels incredibly relevant, and important, to be working in this field at this time, we’ve got a huge contribution to make and I want to be part of that.

I love the challenge and the opportunity to make a difference that could shape how we move forward from this pivotal point in history and how our children experience their own mental health. My most important role in life is as a parent, and my hope for them is that they have a completely different experience than previous generations and that it will become a norm and an expectation for future generations to work on their mental health.  

I’ve experienced my own mental health highs and lows throughout my life, through the usual challenging times of bereavement, domestic abuse, bullying, family cancer, divorce, chronic illness, work stress, and so on, but also through the supposedly “good” times of job success, marriage, childbirth, moving house, navigating friendships, and family relationships.

I’ve come to realise that the same things that I rely on to get me through the difficulties equally apply in the good times. It’s given me perspective and resilience, but the life experience I’ve gained could have been so, so much easier if I’d had the same focus on positively working on my mental health as was the narrative, even societal expectation, of working on my physical health.

I’ve experienced interventions like therapy, CBT, medication, but what I love about coaching is that it is so positive and forward looking, it provides a safe space to grow in that you don’t otherwise experience so I’m totally committed to helping as many more people as we can to access that.  

As an employer, a manager and a People professional, one of the things I really enjoy about my job is that you can never predict what you’ll come across next.

That does however mean that you’re often in a challenging position where you need to support a team member with their mental health, or a manager to deal with a situation, but you’re not qualified to do that.  So when I discovered Sanctus, I not only connected with the mission from a personal perspective, but I could absolutely relate to the need for this high quality, professional support. The opportunity to develop what that looks like is really exciting and I believe we’ve got a unique contribution to make.  

So I feel truly privileged to be working with our team and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us as we grow. Sanctus as an organisation and we as a team are facing exciting and challenging times with a sense of optimism, hope and great potential and I can’t wait to be part of that.  

If you’d like to get in touch please do. 

With love,

Kelly