CEO Jane Petit talks about what Foothold team have been up to during lockdown. There’s also news on what support we’re providing to the community at this difficult time.

May Day in lockdown

May Day is traditionally a time for dancing, singing and eating of cake to welcome in the summer.  The tradition of Maypole dancing has been around since Roman times. Thinking about it brings me a smile. I remember watching my girls weave in and out of multicoloured ribbons with a certain sense of anxiety. Just in case they were the cause of the chaos, mayhem and mirth that erupted when it all didn’t quite go to plan. And if it did all go wrong it was okay! We helped untangle the knots, tended to grazed knees and said how proud we were of them for taking part.

Unfortunately for many people, their current anxieties are not so easy to resolve. They’re based on concern for the people they care for. They may be ill, vulnerable or are key workers supporting others during these difficult times. Here at Foothold we’re providing support for engineers and their families trying to cope with the situation through our partnership with Anxiety UK. They can provide a mental health assessment, tailored treatments and advice via a Foothold-sponsored membership. They’re providing online sessions which are open to all. There’s also a wealth of information on their website.

Support from the team

Our in-house teams are also on hand to help with support and advice on how to manage in these difficult times.  Especially for the self-employed and small business owners, whose work has dried up and the government schemes have not yet kicked in. Since lockdown, 186 of you have contacted us for emergency assistance. We know that there are so many more engineers who could benefit from our help.

So if you know of a friend, a colleague or a relative who is in engineering and is struggling financially, encourage them to get in touch with us by filling out our support enquiry form. The team are ready to take your call.

If your finances are okay and what you are missing is the opportunity to chat, our Friendship team are here. They’ve dusted off their Bic biros and Basildon Bond paper, and are keeping in touch by letter and by phone. If you would like to be part of this, please let us know. Call +44 (0)7851 255 260, email us on [email protected] or write to us at 4th Floor, Napier House, 24 High Holborn, London WC1V 6AZ. Our post is being redirected so it might take a couple of days for us to reply.

We’ve redirected our phones too, so that we can keep in touch with you from home during lockdown. Coming to the end of week six since lockdown started, we’re all realising that as much as we want it to be “business as usual” it’s more “business as best as we can”. We’re all surprised at how much longer even simple processes can take when you’re not in the office, and how tiring it can be to be on Zoom calls all day.  So if, like us, you are working from home trying to balance work with caring for others, being a stand-in teacher or just missing being with colleagues, be kind to yourself and check out our daily posts using #130daysofwellness tag.