Wellbeing and safety

Keeping you all safe

Ensuring your safety and health whilst undertaking activities for Guide Dogs is our priority. We have robust processes in place to ensure we manage the risks that you may be exposed to during your activities including risk assessment, induction and role specific training, information and reference documents and regular supervision and monitoring.

As part of your induction to your role your manager will identify and provide any role specific training you require.

These guidance documents provide you with an overview of the concerns and processes that are associated with various volunteer role activities. They are designed to support any training provided to you.

Many subjects are covered by these documents so that you can ‘pick and mix’ dependant on your role.

Resilience

Building resilience can help navigate the complex and uncertain world we live in today. Resilience is the secret weapon which can help us overcome challenges, thrive within difficult scenarios, manage change and face adversity. Below we have pulled together some resources that will enable you to start developing those vital skills and critical factors which make you resilient.

Koru Development have produced a wealth of information in their resilience toolkit on what resilience is, why it is important and how you can develop it.

The Wellbeing Project have an abundance of training and support to provide practical strategies, diagnostics, tactics and tools to bolster mental, emotional and physical resilience for individuals and teams.

Mindtools also examine what it is, why we need it, and how to develop it.

Why not take this quiz to find out how resilient you are?

Some inspiring TED talks, grab yourself a cup of tea and take some time to hear some exceptionally powerful stories and how resilience played a part:

Dr Lucy Hone is a resilience expert. In this powerful and courageous talk, she shares the three strategies that got her through an unimaginable tragedy.
Clinical psychologist Raphael Rose discovered that failure is key to creating resilience.
Learn how to use adversity as your superpower in this entertaining, powerful and informative talk with Dr Steinberg where he discusses emotional toughness, emotional intelligence, how to find your purpose, and get greater energy and focus every day.

If podcasts are more your thing, have a listen to ‘Being Well, series 2’, Dr. Rick Hanson’s new series on resilience.

And lastly…Very Well Mind present 10 ways to build your resilience. and MIND charity provide some tips on how to become more resilient

Keeping Calm

'I’m feeling stressed, how can I keep calm?'

We know that we are not at our best when we’re stressed. In fact, our brains have evolved over millennia to release cortisol in stressful situations, inhibiting rational, logical thinking but potentially helping you survive when you are running away from that lion! Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin thinks there's a way to avoid making critical mistakes in stressful situations, when your thinking becomes clouded. Learn how to stay calm when you know you'll be stressed in this twelve minute video.

Team Calm are here to share some of the tools they are using to take care of their minds and stay grounded. You will find a free resource page with meditations, stories, breathing exercises, music, talks and even a ‘Calm app’ to develop your meditation superpowers.

Headspace are also offering an abundance of resources through a free trial, in order to help us keep calm. For those that
are currently unemployed they are providing a year’s free trial so please pass it onto anyone that may find this a lifeline.

Mindful want to bring their community together through providing mindfulness calm with their free webinars and meditations.

And finally, grab a cup of tea, take some time out to sit back and choose from the wide variety of ‘Keep Calm’ podcasts – anything from calming piano music, calm parenting advice, stories for the kids or interviews with those that have put their ‘calm’ toolkits into practise.

Stress Management

What is stress, where does it come from, and how do I know that I am stressed?

Stress is a feeling of being under abnormal pressure. This pressure can come from different aspects of your day to day life, from an increased workload, a transitional period, an argument you have with your family, or existing financial worries. You may find that it has a cumulative effect, with each stressor building on top of one another. During these situations you may feel threatened or upset and your body might create a stress response. This can cause a variety of physical symptoms, change the way you behave, and lead you to experience more intense emotions.

People experience stress in different ways, but often we will find it has a physical as well as mental impact and will target us where we are most prone to bad habits; if you are prone to IBS, headaches or eczema, this could flare up. If you have low levels of patience or tolerance for others, this will be the first area to present under times of stress. Stress isn’t always avoidable but it is manageable. Of course, we all experience ‘bad days’, so we are really talking about situations where people experience physical or behavioural changes for a period of time (e.g. 5 days in a row).

So, what can I do?

Firstly, be aware. Find out your current level of stress by taking this Stress test. You will be sent an individual report providing you with advice specific to your reported level.
Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others by making stress your friend in this interactive video.
There are more resources available online than we have had emergency bites of chocolate these past weeks. We recommend ten stress busters from the NHS and for 99p you can reduce your stress in 7 days. Koru Development share useful resources and strategies in how to manage and reduce stress. We also highly recommend this Overwhelm First Aid kit which has a great checklist for immediate self-intervention.

And finally, if you are looking for ways to manage your stress don’t forget to check your diet, as stress can also suppress your immune system, which is the last thing we need right now. Nutritionist Jacqui Mayes shares advice about foods recommended to support your mood – dark chocolate (in moderation!) being one of them.

Sleep Well

Sleep; the golden ticket to feeling good, working productively and having positive interactions with others around us. But too often we feel sleep deprived, leaving us irritable, impatient and exhausted.

How can I help myself to have a better night’s sleep?

Sleep Council are sharing their tips on how to get a good night’s sleep.
Sleep Foundation helps to explain why sleep is critical to wellbeing and good mental health and offers steps you can take to improve your sleep. They also offer a free 30-day Better Sleep plan
The charity Mind share Jonny Benjamin's story, talking about how his mental health affects his sleep and how he has learned to manage it.
Love to learn are offering free fifteen minutes breathwork classes to teach breathing patterns to help anxiety, and sleep.
This Can Happen offer advice in an hour-long webinar, how to Sleep in a changed world with sleep expert, Maryanne Taylor at Sleepworks.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a natural part of human existence and there are biological reasons why we experience it as human beings, why we can’t seem to shake off negative events and why we sometimes feel overwhelmed by seemingly small challenges. These feelings can also be triggered by particular circumstances, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. The Guide Dogs family is here to support you and we’ve found some great resources for you to explore, from sharing real life stories and links to get support, to online courses.

Information and Support

If you want to understand why you’re feeling anxious or are getting panic attacks you can find out why and access treatment and support from Anxiety UK.
In this insightful short video, Alex Vlogs shares his own story of the powerful impact panic attacks and anxiety disorders had on him, his misconceptions and how he came to realise that he was experiencing anxiety. We have linked to further information from leading mental health charity Mind on these symptoms. Mind offer lots of advice and support here around anxiety and panic attacks.
If you’re worried and anxious about coronavirus specifically, here are ten top tips to support yourself and guidance for you and your family.

Managing Anxiety & Mindfulness Resources

Dr Chris Williams offers a lovely podcast to help you take control of anxiety, sharing techniques on how to live better with anxiety and learn how to relax.
Finding anchors can be helpful – visual, audio or tactile stimuli – can help to relax and ground us in these unsettling times. Try finding some calm within these following tracks (all available on spotify) for meditation:
- Breathing for the 6 ½ minutes of “Faith’s Hymn” Beautiful Chorus
- Threads - Ebb & Flod;
- Marelle - Craig Armstrong
- Waterfalls - Alexis Ffrench
- Breath of Life - Gavin Luke
- Magica - Dream Runner