Expanding to Scotland

Work For All are aiming to expand beyond Australia as part of our strategy for the future. A key part of this strategy is entering into both the Czech Republic and Scotland. These countries have been selected due to a combination of factors ranging from our personal contacts and knowledge to the mental health situation in each respective country. In this post I am going to discuss the opportunity posed to Work For All in Scotland.

Every year in the UK, 1 in 4 people experience a diagnosable mental health condition – one of the higher rates within Europe. (Nowell 2014, p.8) It is therefore appropriate for us to target the UK given the high proportion of mental health sufferers and the benefits we can bring to these people in the workplace. In the Work For All team we are fortunate to have contacts within the food, banking and disability service industries within Scotland. This is why it made sense to target Scotland in particular when looking into the UK given that we are able to validate and improve our app (through mental health organisations), attract funds if required and launch trials of the app into various restaurants. These contacts will help to boost our Scottish prospects and push a successful launch.

Scotland has a strong presence of mental health organisations which are provided through both the public (National Health Service) and third sector organisations. This support has been increasing in recent years with a 9.1% increase in the number of Mental Health Officers in the public sector from 2008-2012. (Nowell 2014, p.16) This shows that there is strong public opinion for supporting those with mental health issues and is a positive sign for the impact that Work For All can have on society. We aim to work alongside these organisations to understand how to best work with mental health sufferers and to ensure our app maximises its potential in providing support in the workplace.

We have yet to finalise a timescale for this expansion however we have identified it as an excellent opportunity for increasing the positive impact of Work For All. Thanks for reading! Gavin

References:

Reuben Nowell. (2014). Mental Health in Scotland . Available: http://www.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/S4/SB_14-36.pdf