Founded in the UK to give small and medium sized businesses better access to finance, Funding Circle has helped more than 135,000 businesses access over £15.2 billion since 2010.
It was the Covid-19 pandemic that acted as the catalyst for Funding Circle to offer Spill to their employees (Circlers). Despite already having an EAP, the team had been looking for supplementary support to address constructive feedback they'd had from Circlers about their existing employee benefits.
According to People Director Victoria Bradford, Funding Circle chose Spill because of the availability of therapy appointments (often the same or next day), the quality of the therapists, and the option to have group sessions.
Mental health has become a talking point
“We use Slack as our primary internal communication platform, so Spill’s Slack integration is hugely beneficial and essential to Spill’s success at Funding Circle. Adding Spill to a Circler’s Slack profile before they join removes all accessibility barriers and maintains privacy.” says Victoria Bradford, People Director at Funding Circle.
“We have continued with Spill for many reasons but the strict confidentiality our Circlers receive combined with the ease of accessing the usage data from the admin hub makes the tool both safe for employees and efficient for account administrators. For example, without knowing any specific employee details, we know we have supported nearly 400 one-off sessions and over 200 therapy courses, which shows us how valued this resource is. “
“It really bothers me that in order to be treated quickly for mental health the assumption is to go private. Poor mental health is still treated as taboo in this country both from the government and media, and the fact that Funding Circle are prepared to help with the cost especially in this economic climate is truly incredible.
I’ve had therapy via the NHS and through university. Neither were particularly helpful. I have also used a coach when working at another company, and they were helpful but left to work privately and I couldn't afford the fees. Spill has been consistent and by far the best.
Pre-Spill, I feel like I hadn’t tackled my anxiety and depression since I left school at 18. So my life has been coasting through circles of two years where things would be fine and then blow up in a breakdown. It got to the point when things were a lot more stable. Then my dad had a stroke suddenly whilst we were out shopping, and I felt my world begin to crumble.
I made the decision to properly address my mental health. My expectations were pretty low — as finding a decent therapist is like finding a needle in a haystack — but since working with my Spill therapist who has coached me I've not looked back.
They are an amazing fit for my needs — supportive, caring and I feel like they understand my perspective when recalling events and why I felt a certain way.
Everything is now in colour and a lot clearer. Like a well-developed photo. How I interact with colleagues, family and friends has improved along with my work performance.”
Safe tools for employees, efficient tools for admins
“In 2023, Circlers answered the question ‘How likely are you to recommend Spill?’ with an average of 9.5 out of 10. We have received other comments in our surveys referencing how grateful Circlers are for Spill, and it’s frequently the first wellbeing benefit that employees reference.
Funding Circle is proud of the diverse and inclusive culture we have built. Through introducing Spill, mental health support has become a talking point throughout the Circler journey. We signpost it during new joiner inductions, we reference it in manager training and we follow up post Circler-led Group events with information on the tool to ensure everyone is aware of the support available to them.
To truly champion mental health support it’s important you speak openly about the tools available. If leaders in your business have had a positive experience with a tool it can be really powerful for them to share this experience and therefore normalise getting support. It’s also really important that you make the tool easily accessible; requiring employees to speak to their manager or HR in order to access mental health support can be a barrier to entry.”
“If leaders in your business have had a positive experience with a mental health tool it can be really powerful for them to share this experience and normalise getting support. ”
