Join with Samaritans for stress down day

Look forward to your colleagues wearing green slippers next February 1st - they wonít be the only ones having fun and joining in with Samaritansí Stress Down Day in early 2008.

And your company still has time to join with Samaritans on this fun venture - with a serious message behind it - by becoming headline sponsors for the event, which targets all types of workers and offers PR and branding opportunities in an above and below the line campaign.

Samaritans ëownsí the Stress Down Day concept and this is our second such event - last yearís proved a windfall in marketing and publicity terms for the companies who ëcame on board.í

Samaritansí Stressed Out Survey was carried out across all regions of the UK by nfpSynergy and received maximum media coverage in National print and radio stations as well as country-wide regional media - and this yearís survey will include the Republic of Ireland as well.

A staggering 21 million people read or heard about Samaritansí survey and Stress Down Day event between December 2006 and February 2007. An impressive 108 radio stations reported the survey and Stress Down Day, which was launched at the London Stock Exchange at an event that 800 Human Resources and Occupational Health professionals were invited to.

The main speaker at the launch was Cary Cooper who is the Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University and a leading authority on work-related stress. Professor Cooper will be supporting Samaritansí Stress Down Day again this coming February 1st.

For 2007ís Stress Down Day, Firefly Tonics held a photo competition with the winning photo appearing on a special ìChill Outî bottle of their drinks, which was sold to accompany the day, with some proceeds going towards Samaritans funds. Taylorís of Harrogate provided 10,000 tea bags which were handed out at train stations where a Stress Down Day leaflet distribution was carried out - and Harvey Nichols sold Firefly drinks and also offered free relaxing massages to people buying them. The organisations received publicity through their association with Stress Down Day as did Medicash, one of the UKís top healthcare cash plan providers, which sponsored the Stressed Out Survey.

The Medicash logo appeared alongside Samaritansí logo on a Stressed Out Survey press release sent to 4,000 media. This release was widely covered by national and regional radio and newspapers. Medicash were often reported on for sponsoring the survey and this included one live interview which went to 1.59 million listeners and had an editorial/pr value of 90,000. In addition around Stress Down Day, 1,500 people visited Samaritansí website pages mentioning Medicash and there were further visits to Medicashís own page on Samaritansí website and the Stressed out Survey page with the Medicash logo.

Stress Down Day will this year raise awareness of stress across all work environments - not only in offices - but in factories and also for people who are at home such as working mums or dads who look after the children and the home. Use the day as an opportunity to obtain employee feedback on stress levels, encourage employee suggestions on reducing stress at work or debate the difference between 'stress' and 'pressure'.

Samaritans is looking for companies keen to join them on a Cause Related Marketing (CRM) basis for Stress Down Day. If you feel your products or your organisation fits the theme of reducing stress, calm and relaxation, down-time, perhaps that summertime healthy mind and healthy body balance, then the charity would be happy to hear from you.

This will be a fun approach to reducing stress in day to day life with a special emphasis on work-related stress. Funds raised will help Samaritans in its ongoing 24:7 emotional health support work - much of it directed at supporting people whose anxieties and fears are triggered by stress in the first place.

A Samaritansí survey conducted by Tickbox.net showed that a third of UK workers cannot get to sleep at work at night, though anxiety, and three quarters donít ëswitch offí when they leave the office. The research also showed that the most stressed employment sector was those working in the financial sector.

Stress in the workplace is frequently cited as the number one issue affecting staff productivity. A report from consultancy firm Woodrow Wyatt showed that 72% of employees identified stress as their major concern.

Samaritans was voted the third most admired UK charity in the Third Sector charity magazineís poll in 2006.

If you want your company to be noticed you canít do much better than linking in with Samaritans. The charityís campaigns are always supported by well-known celebrities and receive widespread media coverage. Current supporters include Samaritans Young Ambassador Jamie Cullum, the top-selling girl group the Sugababes, and the casts of ìHollyoaksî and ìShipwreckedî.

WorkLife is a training programme developed by Samaritans available to organisations which specifically addresses the issue of stress within the workplace for managers and teams.

Hazel Norval, Corporate Relations Manager with Samaritans said: Stress Down Day provides fantastic business benefits for brands which have a strong association or fit with Stress Down Day. Benefits to previous sponsors and partners have included increased sales, positive publicity, sampling opportunities and being able to demonstrate their CSR.

ìThereís a buzz about the day already. Weíve linked with Jongleurs for a comedy night on the evening before Stress Down Day in Camden - laughterís a great way to stress down after all. Weíd really welcome more companies to come in with us as partners on a sponsorship level. ì

Sponsorship and CRM enquiries should be directed to Hazel Norval at Samaritans on 0208 394 8281or email H.Norval@Samaritans.org