Please report any changes by email to staffwellbeing@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Academic Registry	Tania Beckham	tb229@st-andrews.ac.uk
Academic Registry	Liliana Martins e Caneco	lom@st-andrews.ac.uk
Academic Registry	Lindsay Mera-Rowan	lmr29@st-andrews.ac.uk
Academic Registry	Sally Newman-Carter	snc2@st-andrews.ac.uk
Academic Registry	Katie Ewing	klr8@st-andrews.ac.uk
Admissions	Shereen Derkani	sd252@st-andrews.ac.uk
Admissions	Alasdair Wilde	aw240@st-andrews.ac.uk
Business Transformation	Mark Hood	jmh28@st-andrews.ac.uk
Business Transformation	Karen Laing	kjg11@st-andrews.ac.uk
Careers Centre	Philip Ireland	pi8@st-andrews.ac.uk
Careers Centre	Amy Kinsman	ahk6@st-andrews.ac.uk
Centre for Educational Enhancement and Development	Nathalie Ferguson	nf11@st-andrews.ac.uk
Chaplaincy	Linda Bongiorno	ljb17@st-andrews.ac.uk
Corporate Communications	Victoria Herd	vah4@st-andrews.acuk
Development Office	Katie Birrell	kjb21@st-andrews.ac.uk
Environmental Health and Safety Services
Estates	Lilia Chatterjee	estwellbeing@st-andrews.ac.uk
Finance
Global Office	Mirren Augustin	mka1@st-andrews.ac.uk
Human Resources	Laura Henderson	ljh29@st-andrews.ac.uk
Human Resources	Lisa Stewart	ljs23@st-andrews.ac.uk
IT Services	Alex Ingles	ajdi@st-andrews.ac.uk
Libraries and Museums Service	Eilidh Lawrence	erml@st-andrews.ac.uk
Music Centre	Ellen Thomson	eef1@st-andrews.ac.uk
Office of the Principal	Heather Bain	heb31@st-andrews.ac.uk
Organisational and Staff Development Services	Avery Hawkins	wellbeingforstaff@st-andrews.ac.uk
Planning	Li Wang	lw215@st-andrews.ac.uk
Procurement	Linzi Gevaux	lm275@st-andrews.ac.uk
Research and Innovation Services	Laura Masters	lmm42@st-andrews.ac.uk , risadmin@st-andrews.ac.uk
Residential and Business Services	Jenny Donaldson	jad10@st-andrews.ac.uk
Saints Sport	Callum Knox	cgk@st-andrews.ac.uk
Student Services	Simon Griffiths	sjg26@st-andrews.ac.uk
Student Services	Vicki Kinninmonth	vk42@st-andrews.ac.uk
The Byre Theatre	Mary McKenzie	mcm21@st-andrews.ac.uk

Role profile

Some important principles are set out in the role profile:

• This is a voluntary role

• It is an additional set of responsibilities for existing staff, not a new, separate role

• The emphasis is on:

• communicating and signposting available resources, services and activities to colleagues

• communicating feedback on existing service provision and information on local needs to their Service Director and University leadership (through the relevant forums/mechanisms)

• organising/coordinating local initiatives and local participation in wider initiatives

It is also clear that the role is not intended to act as a health/wellbeing practitioner or to tackle individual health/wellbeing issues.

The full role profile: Wellbeing Champion Role Description (PDF, 263 KB)

The primary role of the Wellbeing Champion is to foster a proactive, informed, and supportive wellbeing ethos within their Unit, in line with the University Mental Health Strategy objectives. Wellbeing Champions will not provide a wellbeing or mental health support service for staff; however, the wellbeing-oriented dimensions of the role are such that staff members are likely to work with confidential information when undertaking this role.

The Confidentiality Statement below fully describes the extent that Wellbeing Champions will operate with respect to confidentiality. If you have any questions regarding the Wellbeing Champion Confidentiality Statement, please contact wellbeingforstaff@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Wellbeing Champion Confidentiality Statement (PDF, 178 KB)

Time commitment

Beyond the initial training time commitments are estimated as:

• 1-2 hours per week (onward communication of services, initiatives etc., updates provided at Unit meetings, reporting back to institutional groups)

• Bi-monthly meetings of the Wellbeing Champion network (1.5 hours) to include supervision, sharing of good practice and regular CPD updates

• Further CPD/training 1 day per year.

Wellbeing Champions are expected to make a commitment to the role for the minimum of one year (subject to circumstances). Continuation in the role will be reviewed on an annual basis with input from the role holder, Service Director and the Wellbeing Champion Coordinator. This will provide an opportunity for the role to either be renew for a further year, or to be passed on to another colleague.

Training

Adequate and appropriate training will be essential to ensure that incoming Wellbeing Champions are properly prepared for the role, and are confident in carrying it out.

A detailed training programme has been developed: Wellbeing Champion Development Programme (PDF, 309 KB)                   

CPD and support

It is important that Wellbeing Champions are properly supported in their roles and that they are provided with regular CPD opportunities to maintain and grow their competence and knowledge. This will also help to keep Wellbeing Champions engaged and will add to their overall job interest and professional development.

Wellbeing Champion meetings be used to facilitate 'bitesize' CPD activities, including inputs from subject matter specialist within the University and from relevant external contributors.

An annual CDP event will also be held, with a comprehensive programme of updates for service providers and other contributors to develop the knowledge and confidence of Wellbeing Champions.

Supervision

The 'Supporting the Networks Group' convened by the chair of the MHTF and including the coordinators of the Wellbeing Officer/Champion networks, will meet in response to any issues of concern identified by Wellbeing-related service providers (e.g. Occupational Health or Student Services), or in response to other concerns that need to be considered across both networks. It is essentially the supervisory group for the networks of Wellbeing Officers, Directors, Champions.Champion meetings be 

Wellbeing Champions and line management

• Line managers remain accountable for the wellbeing of their staff and are supported in this by the Wellbeing Champion

• Wellbeing Champions are not accountable for the wellbeing of staff in their Unit - they are responsible for carrying out the role as defined in the role profile

• The role of Wellbeing Champions will become part of the individual's workload and as such should be subject to the normal conversations about performance and workload management that take place between line managers and staff

The line manager relationship and the management of interactions with other people and groups is detailed in Relationships with other roles and groups (PDF, 180 KB)

Implementing the role within the Unit

Guidance notes on how the role will operate within the Service Units are set out in the Wellbeing Champion Guidance notes (PDF, 165 KB) These are relevant both to Service Directors/line manager and to prospective and serving Wellbeing Champions.

The main coordination role for the Wellbeing Champions network will be carried out by the designated ‘Chair of the Wellbeing Champion Network’, a role currently undertaken by Ruth Unsworth, Head of Mediation and Wellbeing. The Chair of the Wellbeing Champion Network will:

• schedule and chair the regular network meetings;

• meet on a regular basis with the Chair of the School Wellbeing Officer Network to share and coordinate joint activities across schools and units;

• maintain a the current list of Wellbeing Champions on the staff wellbeing webpage and the membership to the Microsoft Teams site for Wellbeing Champions, and;

• include regular items and information about and contributed by the Wellbeing Champions in the Well Now newsletter, to raise their profile and to celebrate their successes.

What is a Wellbeing Champion?

A Wellbeing Champion is a volunteer who acts as an ambassador for wellbeing within their unit. The Wellbeing Champion is responsible for actively promoting and effectively signposting their colleagues to wellbeing resources, initiatives, and services available to University staff, and will be the Unit’s internal point-of-information and communications about University wellbeing programmes.

What does a Wellbeing Champion do?

The responsibilities of a Wellbeing Champion will normally involve:

• Ensuring that wellbeing information and resources are regularly shared within the Unit

• Signposting staff to wellbeing services, including Occupational Health, Organisational & Staff Development Services, NHS or emergency services, Student Services (where applicable), Chaplaincy, Samaritans, etc.

• Developing Wellbeing initiatives or activities that meet the needs of their unit

• Collaborating with the Wellbeing Champions network and/or the Wellbeing & Engagement group to share ideas and good practice

• Raising awareness of the Wellbeing Champions role through proactive publicity, contact information and effective in-person communication

The Wellbeing Champions role is expressly NOT a clinical or practitioner role in wellbeing or mental health and will not provide any ongoing in-person or online support for any staff member (e.g. counselling).

How many Wellbeing Champion can a unit have?

Larger units have the options to appoint more than one person to the role of Wellbeing Champion to share the role. This has the benefit of providing cover in the event of absence and provide continuity if a Wellbeing Champion decides to not continue in the role. A suggested ratio of employees per Wellbeing Champion within a unit is 20:1.

Conversely, smaller units may share a Wellbeing Champion between them where there is a natural affinity for those units to work closely together, are primarily based within close proximity to each other, and it is practicable to do so.

Who do Wellbeing Champions work with?

To support their work, Wellbeing Champions participate in a network of Professional Service Unit Wellbeing Champions facilitated Organisational & Staff Development Services (OSDS) to support good practice. Wellbeing Officers are encouraged to initiate wellbeing initiatives Last updates: 16 June 2021 within their Unit, in collaboration with Unit Directors, OSDS and the Wellbeing Champions network.

Do Wellbeing Champions receive any training?

Wellbeing Champions have a development programme that will prepare them for the operational responsibilities of the role, as well as give them the opportunity to develop skills that will help them support their own wellbeing.

Do Wellbeing Champions receive any benefits?

The role of Wellbeing Champion is voluntary and is a set of additional responsibilities for an existing employee. Wellbeing Champions will have the opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills which will not only allow them to support their colleagues but will help them improve their own wellbeing as well.

What are the time commitments for a Wellbeing Champion?

Beyond the initial training time commitments for a new Wellbeing Champion, it is estimated that the time commitments for a Wellbeing Champion to undertake their role are as follows:

• Approximately 1-2 hours per week (onward communication of services, initiatives etc., updates provided at Unit meetings, reporting back to institutional groups)

• Bi-monthly meetings of the Wellbeing Champion network (1.5 hours) to include supervision, sharing of good practice and regular CPD updates

• Further CPD/training – 1 day per year.

Wellbeing Champions are expected to make a commitment to the role for the minimum of one year (subject to circumstances). Continuation in the role will be reviewed on an annual basis with input from the role holder, Unit Director, and the Wellbeing Champion Coordinator. This will provide an opportunity for the role to either be renew for a further year, or to be passed on to another colleague.

Who do Wellbeing Champions report to?

Wellbeing Champions will work in partnership with the Unit Director to support the wellbeing of colleagues within their Unit. The Wellbeing Champion will report summary data about wellbeing activities to the Unit Director, and some data will be collated for reporting to the Mental Health Taskforce.

Who would be a good fit for the role of a Wellbeing Champion?

Wellbeing Champions should:

• have the support of their line manager/Service director to undertake the role - this is essential

• be able to commit to the minimum term of one year (subject to unanticipated circumstance)

• have an interest and enthusiasm for wellbeing and the capability to embed wellbeing and mental health in the workplace

• be able to collaborate effectively with colleagues to share knowledge and experience to improve everyone’s wellbeing and mental health at work

The role may be particularly suitable for graduates of the Passport to Health and Wellbeing Excellence and to current/former members of the University Wellbeing and Engagement Group.

Further information about the Wellbeing Champion role is available in the Wellbeing Champion Role Description (PDF, 263 KB) document