A team of around 20 colleagues from dentistry and healthcare software company Agilio will walk the Thames Path Ultra Challenge this September, aiming to raise £10,000 for suicide prevention charity Ripple.
The dentistry tech company, which also supplies software for veterinary, pharmacy and primary care settings, will take on the Thames Path Ultra Challenge in support of Ripple Suicide Prevention Charity, with several members of the company’s executive team joining the walk. Following on from their successful completion of the Peak District and North Yorkshire ultras, the team are determined to hit their goal of raising a total of £10,000 for the charity.
As part of Agilio’s Central People Team, Nikki Berryman has been instrumental in bringing Agilio’s wellbeing strategy to life, leading the implementation of a range of initiatives designed to support colleague wellbeing and fostering greater awareness of the support and resources available across the organisation. With around 330 employees and more than three quarters of the workforce working remotely, recognising when someone may need support is not always straightforward. Creating opportunities for connection, listening to colleagues and making support easy to access are therefore central to Agilio’s approach to wellbeing.
To support their commitment to employee wellbeing, the company deployed the charity’s innovative tool, Ripple BrowserShield, a lifesaving piece of technology which intercepts harmful online searches related to suicide and self-harm and guides people to immediate support at the point of search.
Nikki Berryman said:
“We are huge advocates of flexible working and work-life balance. However, with a lot of our colleagues working solely from home, it can sometimes be difficult to pick up on the shifts in behaviour and notice when someone’s mental health has started to decline, so having a tool in place that offers protection in the worst-case scenario gives us a lot of peace of mind as we know that Ripple BrowserShield will kick in if someone is looking for ways to harm themselves.”
Ripple BrowserShield is available for businesses like Agilio via Ripple for Business while the charity works to provide the safeguarding technology to schools, colleges, universities, charities and families around the world free of charge. Through their fundraising efforts, Nikki and her colleagues will be funding the deployment of the tool to protect more young and vulnerable people and their families who find themselves in crisis.
The Thames Path Ultra Challenge is one of the largest events of its kind in the UK, drawing around 3,000 participants following the river through London. With distances ranging from 25km to 50km, the Agilio team will set off early in the morning and expect a late finish. It is in these long stretches on foot that Agilio has seen strong bonds form, with conversations often turning to mental health.
Nikki added:
“When you’re walking together for six, eight, ten hours, that’s when you really start getting to know people. There’s always a story behind why somebody is there and after the first couple of hours, we can get into some very deep and personal topics. Once we are taken out of the office environment and into a more social and collaborative space, we start to share our own experiences. That’s why I think these challenges are just as much supporting our mental wellbeing as well as being physically challenging.”
For the charity, fundraising by organisations like Agilio is vital. It funds deployment of the technology to more schools and charities, and further development of the tool so that more harmful searches are intercepted and redirected to essential support.
Alice Hendy MBE, Founder and CEO of Ripple Suicide Prevention Charity said:
“The team at Agilio has already endured physical hardship to raise money for the charity, and their continued determination is a testament to their mental fortitude and dedication to supporting those who find themselves in crisis. Through our technology, we have intercepted over 120,000 harmful searches and are currently providing protection to over 1.9 million people worldwide. Agilio are helping us to ensure that more people are given direct support at the point of search which will result in more lives saved and reduce the instances of suicide and self-harm. We wish everyone the best of luck in the challenge and look forward to seeing their smiling faces at the finish line.”
With the challenge now weeks away, the team are more determined than ever to hit their £10,000 target.
To support Agilio’s efforts, visit: Team Agilio fundraising for Ripple
For more information on Ripple Suicide Prevention Charity, visit: Ripple | Crisis Intervention, Suicide Prevention & Mental Health
