The new Chamber of Commerce President has said he will use his platform to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention in the workplace – particularly in the construction sector, where it remains a leading cause of death among men.
Lee Madden was recently announced as the new Chamber of Commerce President.
“I am humbled to be following in the footsteps of previous Presidents to lead our members for the next three years,” he said.
Mr Madden, who previously served as Chamber’s Co-Vice President with Daphne East, is also the CEO of GR8 Recruitment – a local recruitment firm set up to connect Jersey’s construction industry with skilled workers abroad.
He explained that he is particularly passionate about using his extended platform to raise awareness of mental health in the workplace as part of his new role in Jersey’s leading business organisation.
The businessman said this was especially important because suicide is the biggest killer of men in the construction industry, something important to him given his connection to the sector with his early business venture.
After losing a close friend earlier this year, Mr Madden began working with local charity Mind Jersey to bring suicide awareness training into workplaces.
“We’ve been doing some really good work at the moment with Mind Jersey on suicide awareness,” he explained.
“They’ve been actually fantastic. They’re offering free, half-price courses for commerce, for businesses.
“They’ll go in, and they’ll brief businesses on how to identify those who may be suffering.”
The new Chamber of Commerce President praised the success of the mental health training, adding that he had heard of situations where employees had approached managers afterwards saying: “I’m really suffering – can you help me?”.
You can read a fuller interview with Mr Madden in Saturday’s JEP…