Holiday Extras staff have reacted to the “enormous” impact of Ashley Close’s death last year by setting up men’s support groups and encouraging discussion of mental health, according to UK national retail manager Lindsay Garvey-Jones.
Close (pictured), who died at the age of 43, worked for the ancillaries provider for a total of 11 years and held roles including head of travel insurance partnerships.
During a panel discussion at C&M Recruitment’s ‘ABCLive’ event yesterday (Tuesday, September 24), Garvey-Jones said the practical response to Close’s death had been “really impactful”.
She said: “We lost Ashley and he worked for Holiday Extras for a very long time. This impacted the team enormously from the top down and it was a family huddle over, ‘We can’t change the outcome of this, but we can definitely do something towards men’s health’.”
Outlining efforts to reduce any “stigma” linked to men’s mental health, she said: “A lot of men within Holiday Extras have now created this group where they go on ‘walk and talks’ and bring their dogs and they do craft nights.
“There are a lot of men-only sessions, but they also want to be there as a support for other people within the Holiday Extras family.”
A key message has been focusing on “prevention”, she added. “It’s been a really impactful thing at Holiday Extras.”
Close left the travel sector in June 2018, but kept in touch with industry friends and former colleagues.
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