Background

The Informals’ Welfare Officer position was created in 2020, in collaboration with Jonathan’s Voice, to provide a point of contact for all trainee Patent Attorneys, as well as to make available more resources and information surrounding mental health and mental wellbeing.

For background, Jonathan’s Voice was founded in late 2017 in memory of Jonathan McCartney, a patent attorney who tragically took his own life. The charity’s purpose is to promote mental wellbeing in the workplace, increase understanding and awareness of suicide, reduce the stigma that often surrounds mental health and empower people to speak about it. It seeks to educate and encourage organisations to create the right policies and practices to support employees with their mental health and wellbeing. Please visit https://jonathansvoice.org.uk/ for more information.

As trainee patent attorneys, we know how stressful and tough being a trainee can be. The “Welfare and Wellbeing” section of the website aims to provide resources for trainees to help protect and improve their mental wellbeing.

What do the Informals do to improve the wellbeing of trainee patent attorneys?

> We provide a confidential, dedicated email address for you to reach out to trained mental health first aiders at informalswelfare@gmail.com.

> We organise monthly wellbeing coffee clubs for you to chat with other trainee patent attorneys. For more details on the wellbeing coffee clubs for 2023, please click here.

> We organise wellbeing events throughout the year. Keep an eye out on the yellowsheet blog for announcements, or request to join the wellbeing mailing list by emailing welfareofficercipainformals@gmail.com.

> We provide information regarding where you can seek additional support.

… and if you have any other suggestions, please get in touch by emailing welfareofficercipainformals@gmail.com! We would love to hear from you about how we can better support our trainee community!

Gossip with trainees: