New partnership to tackle mental health on Sydney's northern beaches: Laing+Simmons
The offices at Laing+Simmons Narrabeen, Laing+Simmons Dee Why and the new Northern beaches team at Laing+Simmons Young Property have joined forces with Laing+Simmons head office to help Making Meditation Mainstream grow its movement to new suburban locations in Sydney, as well as other Australian cities and internationally locations as well.
Each Saturday at sunrise, Making Mediation Mainstream takes members of the community through a peaceful mediation experience to help them connect with nature and each other. Free to all and open to everybody, the movement has 14 locations in Australia and is growing, with the first international location soon to begin in Switzerland and Hawaii on the cards soon thereafter.
Laing+Simmons is known for its people-first culture which emphasises the need for its people to care for each other like they would a member of their family. The company has an Employee Assistance Program in place which makes confidential counselling services available free for team members who might be experiencing difficulties either in their work or personal lives.
The new partnership is a natural fit with the company’s family culture, said Laing+Simmons Managing Director Leanne Pilkington.
“Improving mental health outcomes for people in the Laing+Simmons family, including our team members, our customers and the communities in which we operate, is something we’re emotionally invested in. it makes sense for us to formalise a partnership with an organisation which shares the same values and, importantly, offers a solution,” Ms Pilkington said.
“Our head office staff as well as people from our Northern Beaches teams actively participate in the initiative. Societal mental health challenges have been exacerbated by the pandemic to lead many people to experience feelings of anxiety, stress, isolation, depression and more.
“By supporting Making Mediation Mainstream, which in turn supports Lifeline, we can make a tangible effort to provide a solution which some people will be able to derive real, transformative benefits from,” she said.
Making Meditation Mainstream was born on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 2018 – a bad year for the area with 33 recorded suicides – with the objective of tackling mental health challenges through meditation as a supportive practice that can nurture a person’s connection to self, to nature and to each other.
It’s a registered charity which directly supports Lifeline on the Northern Beaches.
The partnership with Laing+Simmons comes at a time when Making Meditation Mainstream is gearing up for a major ‘Big Beach Sit’ event to coincide with Mental Health Month in October, in collaboration with Lifeline. Watch this space for more information on this world-first event.