Travel Village Group operations assistant manager Adele Barnacle has spoken of her surprise after being presented with the Mental Health Matters Award at the 2023 Travel Weekly Agent Achievement Awards.
After receiving the award at the ceremony at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel in London on Thursday, she said: “I am in absolute shock. I don’t feel like I have done that much but receiving this award has perhaps shown me that I have helped others.”
Barnacle, who has worked for the company for 12 years, took on responsibility for overseeing mental health issues in the business after taking a mental health champion course at the end of the Covid pandemic.
More: Agent Achievement Awards 2023 winners in full
Gallery from the Agent Achievement Awards 2023
She said: “So many people were struggling when we came out of Covid and I had agents, homeworkers and head office staff reaching out to me. Every day there was someone who was struggling, having a breakdown or a cry, and it was so hard to see that.
“The first thing I did was make wellness packs for the shop in Blackpool containing wellbeing journals, face packs and chocolates; I just thought I could do something little to make people feel happy and smile.”
Since then, Barnacle has become the first port of call for the company’s 150 staff if they are suffering with any mental issues.
“I have given as much advice as I can and I offer a listening ear,” she said.
Barnacle has also made small changes around head office, from posters on the wall with inspiring messages and colour mood charts for staff to a lunch area where no work talk is allowed and a mirror outside the ladies toilets which says “Smile, you are beautiful”.
She has also introduced a tidy office and desk policy based on feedback that a messy workplace caused some staff anxiety.
The Holiday Village managing director Paula Nuttall described Barnacle as “very calm and discrete” and someone who “more importantly, cares” about staff in the business.
She said: “Her friendly approach is infectious and one our head office teams and network of agents couldn’t do without. She is always coming up with new ideas. She is a credit to herself and her young family.”
More: Agent Achievement Awards 2023 winners in full
