Andy Stevens

Builder & Broadcaster

Eclipse Property Solutions ltd

I write regularly for the glossy magazines, National Press etc. I have presented a load of How To videos for Homebuilding and Renovating Magazine which has done really well online. I have filmed for the Federation of Master Builders, presented social media videos for Caterpillar, Tuff Stuff and have Chandlers (big suppliers) and CT1 booked in. I also am in conversation with a lot of other brands about doing their social media videos.

I was in property developing for years before the 07/08 crash and since then have been running my building company where we have won several industry awards. We work mainly on extensions, refurbishments, kitchens, bathrooms etc. I am in the process of setting up a charity called TRYHAL (Trades Rebuilding Your Homes And Lives) where tradespeople are helping children (under 18) with cancer. We have done our first project where we renovated a bedroom and kitchen with a teenage boy who is suffering with Neuroblastoma. ITV London covered this on their 6 o'clock news as well as other media.

James Rudoni

Managing Director

Mates in Mind

James Rudoni is the Managing Director at industry charity Mates in Mind. Mates in Mind was launched in 2017 to raise awareness, address the stigma of poor mental health and improve mental wellbeing in the construction sector. Mates in Mind has led in the creation of an innovative approach that helps companies nurture positive mental wellbeing amongst their workforce working in construction and wider construction-related industries. Key to its success is breaking the silence and stigma that can surround mental health in society in general, and the workplace in sectors such as construction in particular.

James has a 30year track record in charity and commercial sectors. Prior to leading Mates in Mind, he was Director of RBLI Living, Royal British Legion Industries leading on supporting some of the hardest to help veterans (including those with PTSD, depression and complex health issues), current service personnel and their families. During which time he was responsible for a sizable support housing portfolio, the provision of high dependency nursing and assisted living healthcare, welfare advice nationally, employment training services and vocational assessments. Also overseeing the transforming rehabilitation services to veterans in the Criminal Justice System. The development of this approach resulted in greater reach that doubled beneficiary numbers, the delivery of a range of innovative new services and RBLI’s first national training programme, LifeWorks.

Joscelyne Shaw

Director of Strategy

Mates in Mind

Joscelyne is Director of Strategy at Mates in Mind, a new charity founded by the Health in Construction Leadership Group and British Safety Council which was launched in 2017. Mates in Mind seeks to raise awareness, address the stigma of poor mental health and improve mental wellbeing amongst employers and organisations across the construction and associated industries.

Russell Stilwell

Managing Director

RSE Building Services Ltd

Russell Stilwell is a passionate advocate for changing attitudes towards mental health within the workplace. Throughout his career, Russell has experienced first-hand the negative impacts poor mental health can have in every aspect of business. Working from the ground up, Russell’s background charts the transition from working on the tools, to running a successful multimillion pound turnover business. However, this success has not come without its difficulties and he has experienced the sharp end of the construction industry on many occasions. Over the years he gained valuable insight and knowledge through hands on experiences at every stage, providing him with an expansive understanding of best and worst practice within the industry.

As a result, Russell is dedicated to changing the way the construction industry works for the better, and influencing the sector to become even greater. This includes proactively transforming the industry for the next generation via Constructionwise. Constructionwise focuses on proactively changing perceptions of the construction industry in order to have a positive impact on skills shortages and mental wellbeing for future generations. This already has the backing of local government/councils, a number of local schools and training organisations.

Russell is also a champion of the charity Mates in Mind, and delivered a speech about his experience with mental health at the charity’s launch event in September 2017.

Lee Jones, CMIOSH, PIEMA

Group Business Assurance Manager

Kier Group

Lee's story

I joined Kier in early 2017, my daughter, (15 at the time) had been unwell for some time but rapidly declined several months after I joined Kier, my daughter has both significant and complex mental health issues that have taken years to diagnose.
It was a few months later still before I told my line manager about what was happening, my role involves a lot of travel away from home and I was new to the business, so I guess I felt vulnerable as the new man on the block. Eventually I came to the point where I knew deep down that home pressures must be affecting my work, it was certainly affecting me and my mental health.

When I did tell Kier, they were brilliant, supportive in giving me the space when I needed it to be at home. They also listened to my wishes by not reducing my workload, that was an important factor to me both in terms of pride and self-worth. Kier were also very quick to provide reassurance, telling me I’d made a great start at Kier although they were disappointed that I didn’t open up sooner.

Seeing the decline in my daughters health was difficult and found myself not easily able to come to terms with what was happening, she spent over eight months in hospital in a (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) CAMHS facility, eventually returning home last summer. I struggled with the worry of my daughter returning home and Kier helped me with counselling when I asked for it, both my peers and managers were very supportive throughout.

We are now heading towards a year since my daughter returned home, every day is still a struggle but life is a little more stable. We still have a long road ahead and we are not out of the woods yet, we are working towards Cammy returning to education after two years out of school. My inspiration has to be Cammy, she has remained strong throughout and wants to get better, she has ambitions to work with children in Mental Health and could offer so much if she succeeds.

As for me, I’m in control of my physical and mental health, I know my stress points and running is my stress outlet, I’m fitter and stronger mentally now than I have been for many years and Kier have played a big part in that.

As a family we managed to “get by” for so long with so little support, but when we found help it was priceless, for me personally giving something back is important and part of my recovery, so I am, both by raising funds and awareness.

I’m running the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford and raising money for the hospital where my daughter was, Kier have also helped by provided me with training as a mental health first aider, this way I can use my experience to help others.

Over the past few years my perception and understanding of mental health has changed radically. A year ago I couldn’t talk the way I can today, but now I talk freely about what has happened and indeed what is still happening… what a difference a year makes!

What would I tell people now? Look after yourself because nobody else can look after you, find a way to talk to someone… anyone and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Maria Coulter

Managing Director

Construction Coach

Maria is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager and Risk Manager. She is also an RICS Regional Board Member and Chair of the East Midlands Construction Industry Council. A few years ago her interest in the world of personal development resulted in a qualification in coaching which then led her to join her industry and coaching experience together to start her own company and become The Construction Coach. Having been in the industry for the past 20 years she has experienced the stress and pressure we are under on a daily basis and she speaks the language (clean of course!)

Joanna-May

Founder

Joanna- May: Meditation

Joanna started her career as an assistant on a building site, over the course of a decade she worked her way up to Commercial Director. In 2017 she left the Construction Industry to focus on improving mental health through meditation within the corporate world, this included an invitation to speak at ITV for World Mental Health Day. She is passionate about improving mental health win the Construction Industry and has delivered training to Galliford Try and Kirby Group Engineering as well as sessions to Balfour Beatty, Considerate Constructors and Morgan Sindall for Mental Health Awareness Week 2019.

Chris Wakeham

Alcohol and Drug Consultant

Hampton Knight

Chris has worked in the workplace alcohol and drug testing industry for over 20 years and during this time has supported many companies introduce policies and procedures that effectively manage the issue of alcohol and drugs in the workplace. Chris formed Hampton Knight in 2000 where he was Managing Director until Medigold Health acquired the business in 2017 to complement their health and wellbeing services. Chris continues to advise companies on their policies and procedures and he is a strong believer in a partnership approach with clients to ensure that together, we achieve a safer, healthier workplace.

Sam Hall

Founding Director

SI Partnership

Sam is a Founding Director of SI Partnership. He has over 20 years experience developing sustainability strategy and policy in the construction sector. He is a Chartered Environmentalist and a Member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. Sam is also a qualified psychotherapist.

Clare Forshaw

 Occupational Health & Hygiene Partner

Park Health & Safety

Clare is an Occupational Health & Hygiene Partner with Park Health & Safety Partnership.  She previously worked at HSE and has over 20 years’ experience in workplace health management.  Her role involves assisting organisations in achieving their goals in health risk management. With a strong interest and experience in assisting organisations develop a strategic and sustainable approach to health management, she also works closely with senior management teams to embed appropriate leadership and culture for organisational health maturity.

She has been involved with the Health in Construction Leadership since its conception and has assisted the group on communications, health by design, and musculoskeletal disorders. Clare is the founder and director of the UK Hearing Conservation Association which was launched in March 2019 and aims to prevent damage to people’s hearing health and other noise related health conditions; through a multidisciplinary approach to developing practical, evidenced and cost-effective communications and solutions.

Anna Mason

Managing Director

The Healthy Employee

Anna Mason, Managing Director of The Healthy Employee Ltd, a workplace health and wellbeing company providing measurable health and wellbeing events and initiatives into organisations.
Anna’s background is sports science. She spent many years as a personal fitness trainer before forming The Healthy Employee Ltd in 2008. She is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of working people to impact positively on the quality of life both in and out of the working environment. Anna says ‘It is education that is important. It must be delivered in an inspiring and motivational manner to help people make simple, practical, down to earth and sustainable lifestyle improvements. 

Dan Platten

Health, Safety & Wellbeing Director

Skanska, Costain, Strabag JV

Tim Ryan

Director and DfMA Lead

Bryden Wood

Tim joined Bryden Wood in 2004 having spent a number of years working overseas, initially in Ghana overseeing the construction of a rural school project, and later in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with the Ken Yeang practice, TRHY, where he worked on a variety of local projects.

During Tim’s time at BWL he has worked across a great number of sectors including a number of aviation projects, commercial refurbishment, Metropolitan police facilities and artist studios, coming to specialise in design for offsite manufacture. Tim currently heads up BWL’s DfMA department.

Tim has extensive expertise in running multi-disciplinary design teams in the production and delivery of complex fast track projects. The scope of such work involves strong project management and team running skills, as well as extensive detailing knowledge and an ability to deliver BIM capable projects. This experience affords Tim a vast understanding of cross discipline design issues and the means by which such issues can be addressed to deliver the clients expectation.

Asif Sadiq MBE

Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging 

The Telegraph

Asif is Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging for The Telegraph. He was formerly the Head of Diversity and Inclusiveness for EY Financial Services and was also previously the Head of the Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Unit for the City of London Police. He has delivered the strategic plans to drive a co-ordinated approach across various businesses to focus both investment and intent on the broader inclusion agenda. He is a Multi-Award Winning Diversity and Inclusion expert with a proven track record in achieving operational and strategic targets, managing quality, performance, risk and change through promoting equal opportunities and diverse cultures.

He is a passionate and inspirational global leader with the ability to empower individuals and create a truly inclusive environment for all. Asif is key in implementing D&I activities and programmes as well as connecting with stakeholders at all levels to build strong and influential relationships with business leaders and influencers. Asif acts as a role model, providing governance across businesses on D&I and cultural change and is committed to creating a strong sense of belonging for all.

Asif has received a number of accolades for his professional and volunteering work that include the Mosaic (Prince’s Trust) Award for mentoring and NAMP Multi Faith Award, Police Officer of the Year Award, the Civil Servant of the Year Award, the prestigious Asian Professional Award and the highly commended Head of Diversity Award at the European Diversity Awards. Asif was honoured in 2017 in the Queen’s birthday honours list with an MBE for his services to Policing and the Communities and is a member of the HR Guild and is a Freeman of the City.

He is currently the Chair of the London Hate Crime Board, an Ambassador for Remembering Srebrenica, Member of the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) on Hate Crime, Special Advisory to the charity Penny Appeal, a trainer for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and a Special Sergeant with the City of London Police.

Steve Perkins MA Oxf CDir FIoD FInstP

Executive Coach and Consultant

Steve Perkins Associates

Steve is a Chartered Director and Fellow of the Institute of Directors, with over 20 years of management and executive experience in a range of organisations from corporate to charity and plc to SME. He has served in CEO, Executive and Non-Executive Director roles. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.

Steve’s company provides executive consultancy and coaching solutions in the UK and internationally to help business and EHS leaders develop and improve their strategy, culture and leadership. Current projects include work with the UK Highways sector to develop a strategic health leadership framework.

Steve is the former Chief Executive of BOHS, the UK’s Chartered professional and awarding body for scientists and leaders in preventative occupational health.

www.steveperkinsassociates.com 

Nicola Chamberlain

Client Relationship Manager 

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England 

Nicola Chamberlain is a Client Relationship Manager at Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England. In her role, Nicola supports organisations to identify and implement the appropriate level of mental health training, in line with their mental health and wellbeing objectives and in support of ‘whole organisational’ change – helping employers to build mentally healthier working environments for their people. Nicola has always had a passion for raising mental health awareness through education and training and ultimately breaking down mental health stigma.

In 2014 she joined MHFA England in its mission to normalise society’s attitudes and behaviours around mental health, by promoting the development of skills needed to look after our own and others’ wellbeing. She now works with employers across a range of sectors, with a focus on Construction and Manufacturing as well as Real Estate and Professional Services, supporting businesses to effectively incorporate Mental Health First Aid training into their wider wellbeing strategies. Nicola is part of the Business Disability Forum's Construction Industry Network and also leads for MHFA England in both the Building Mental Health and This is Me initiatives.