'Caring for the carers' is important too on mental health watch

15 March 2024

The Police Federation’s Welsh co-leads are encouraging reps to look out for their own mental health.

Leigh Godfrey and Zac Mader said the welfare and wellbeing of reps was an area of importance for them.

Now they are looking at how the Federation can provide more support to reps who may be struggling with their case loads.

Zac said: “Caring for the carers is something we’re really interested in.

“A busy Fed rep might be dealing with the highs and lows of someone who is facing challenges, trying to help them through a difficult period, and they have no control over the timelines.

“Something that may not seem important in the grand scheme of things is massive to that individual.

“It may not be job threatening but it takes over that person’s life, it takes over their family’s life, and you’re having to manage expectations

“Sometimes people call you at 10pm on a Saturday because they need to speak to someone and there’s no-one else.

“If you have a few of those it can be challenging, and that has to go somewhere.

“So we’re acutely aware of the wellbeing of our reps and of who looks after the carer.”

They’re looking at launching a campaign later this year, which focuses on the wellbeing of reps.

Zac said: “That will include better training for Fed reps and building in resilience into that.

“Better management of what people are doing and helping individuals to know when they’re at saturation point.

“When I was in Force, I would never say no to anybody. And once you’ve helped someone, they may want you to support them with other things or they speak to other officers and your reputation grows and, as nice as that is, it can be a burden.

“It’s also to understand as a Fed rep that it’s okay to say I’m not coping.

“When we have challenges, even Fed reps, we’re not very good at coming forward and saying I’m struggling.”

Leigh and Zac are part of a group which includes the Police Federation of England and Wales wellbeing leads Paul Williams and Sue Honeywill, who are looking into the welfare and wellbeing of reps.

“One of the things we’re looking at is the support and messaging, so they don’t feel that they’re alone,” said Zac.

“It’s not as if you can go home and talk about it, or talk about it to other police officers, because it’s other people’s confidentiality and you just can’t do it.

“So that in itself can be quite a lonely place.”