A history of Lamp’s Business Club
Lamp’s Business Club was set up as a platform to harness collaboration with companies to empower them to improve mental health in the workplace. We hear from the key players who shaped the Club in its early days.
The Business Club can trace its beginnings to Sarah Higgins, a leadership coach and the author of Power of Love Leadership®, who in 2019, was approached about developing the charity’s initiative. Sarah wanted the Business Club to focus on sharing knowledge, experiences and insights into mental health and how this can make a difference for us at work and in running successful businesses.
She worked with Colin Fyfe, the Chief Executive of Hinckley & Rugby Building Society (HRBS) and other members to establish Lamp’s Business Club in March 2019. They set up a Steering Group and Colin was appointed Chairman of the Business Club while Sarah was Vice-Chair. They worked with Richard Kotulecki, Lamp’s CEO and Matt Barton, Lamp’s Corporate and Engagement Community Officer, along with the Steering Group and Business Club members to ensure the Club’s success.
Mental health is immensely important to Sarah and this passion has motivated her to keep volunteering her time and to continue developing the Business Club for Lamp and its members. In the first two years after the Business Club was set up, Sarah facilitated quarterly online meetings with speakers and discussions that continued despite the pandemic, so that members would benefit. These covered what it means to be a leader in mental health and how we can engage with people and encourage them to talk, as well as whether we should reclassify mental health as a health and safety issue.
Sarah adopted openness and encouraged discussions where participants could take away valuable learning for their organisations. She said:
“The Business Club meetings offer an opportunity for us to think about what’s important, how this aligns with our purpose, our personal goals and what positive impact we’re trying to achieve at work for ourselves and others. Uniting businesses together to develop mental health at work, is a powerful movement that benefits us all in so many ways. Organisations benefit by building their understanding and learning that can have a positive impact for their success and individual leaders have found it gives them important experiences too. Business is all about trust, meaningful connection, reciprocal support and positive relationships. These are by-products of our meetings, which add enormous benefits for all. We have strong networks and connections as a result of honestly sharing experiences, contributing our thoughts and also taking the time to listen to others.”
Sarah concluded by saying:
“Lamp’s Business Club meetings always have a ‘positive energy’, which is infectious. Ultimately, we are all passionate about developing the conversations around mental health and Lamp along with all its members, are all inspirational thought leaders enabling us to do that.”
Further information about the support that Lamp offers businesses, can be found here and in this case study, while details on the Business Club can be found here. Further enquiries can be directed to Matt Barton at: matthewbarton@lampdirect.org.uk
