Men’s Health in Business: Hugh James and Chambers Wales join forces to tackle stigma
Men’s Health in Business: Hugh James and Chambers Wales join forces to tackle stigma
Subscribe to the Businessin Wales daily newsletter for FREE here.
Hugh James has teamed up with Chambers Wales South East, South West and Mid to host a Men’s Health event focused on resilience, emotional wellbeing and the importance of open conversation.
Nearly 50 men attended the session at Hugh James’ Cardiff headquarters, where a panel discussion featured Adam Jones from the firm’s people team, mental health advocate Dai Rees of Chambers Wales and international rugby referee Ben Whitehouse.
David Hulse, Head of Independent Financial Advice at Hugh James, said the event offered valuable insights that connected both professional and personal wellbeing.
Hulse, who has worked in financial services for 25 years, has been attending Chambers Wales’ men’s health sessions for the past 18 months. He explained that the series had inspired Hugh James to launch its own internal mental health group.
He said: “We’ve had some fantastic speakers which have certainly hit the note with myself personally and with a number of people that have attended.
“That encouraged us to adopt that into our own business here at Hugh James. We have a mental health group which we’ve built and is getting stronger and stronger each month with new members and new advocates coming along to it and it’s something that we’re certainly looking to build on as a business.”
The conversation also addressed the particular challenges men face in opening up about their wellbeing.
“We are not great at talking, we’re known for it. We build up this wall around us, protecting ourselves as individuals. And I think it’s really, really important and healthy to have an open conversation with the people around us and actually flagging up when you’re not feeling 100% from a mental health perspective,” Hulse said.
One of the key takeaways for him was the idea of “emotional health,” introduced by Dai Rees during the panel.
“We’re all very much aware of mental health and the stigma and the issues around that. Emotional health is something that we’re building on. The effects of the cortisol levels within the body, the stress factor that comes along with it. And it’s talking about how to manage that in your work life. Because if you can manage that within your work life, it’ll then transition to your home life, your family life, and hopefully give a positive outcome for those people that are around us and the people that we care about and the people that we love,” he said.
Want more from Businessin Wales? Why not follow us on our socials
Listen to the Businessin Wales podcast
