A Derbyshire founder specialising in supporting business leaders through transformation has launched her innovative wellbeing festival for 2025.
Sarah Markham, whose company Calm in a Box works with companies across the UK to help teams function better through consultancy, workshops and coaching, has opened up applications for her highly popular CALMFest in 2025.
Now in its third year, CALMFest is a festival of events, activities and challenges which run online during Mental Health Awareness Week, taking place this year from May 12 – 16.
Organisations across the UK and abroad have been signing up to the successful festival which features three half-hour sessions run online each day, designed to help employees thrive by learning from experts on a range of topics.
Over the years the festival has been running, it has seen over 3,000 sessions booked.
Sponsored by the London-based Nuclear Industry Association (NIA), this year’s CALMFest will feature sessions on gut health – delivered by nutritionist Karen Newby who boasts an Instagram following of 27,500 – how to build neuroinclusive workplaces, dealing with money anxieties, managing the menopause, support with better sleep with The Sleep Charity, plus sessions on yoga, chair-based Pilates and breathwork.
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the NIA, said: “Mental wellbeing is incredibly important to us and our members and we’re proud to be supporting CALMFest for the third year running. As a sector we strive to promote an inclusive working culture by promoting a positive and healthy state of being. CALMFest does fantastic work in raising awareness of mental health, raising funds for a very worthy cause to ensure organisations can continue to offer the right support.”
One business which has signed up to CALMFest this year is science company Lubrizol, which has a UK Technical Centre in Derbyshire and a focus on employee wellbeing delivered through a range of measures including designated wellbeing rooms plus a wide range of volunteering opportunities.
Claire Hollingshurst, of Lubrizol, said she had greatly enjoyed CALMFest in 2024 and was looking forward to taking part again.
She said: “We have signed up again this year. It was brilliant. It was great to hear from different professionals about lots of different techniques on how you can support yourself and look after your own wellbeing. I really liked the more active sessions on mindfulness and chair yoga. I learned a lot across the week and I am looking forward to it again this year.”
The benefits of CALMFest in supporting employee wellbeing have been warmly endorsed by April Homer, chief people officer from accountancy firm Cooper Parry, based near Castle Donington.
She said: “CALMFest has been absolutely brilliant for our business.
“It has given us access to tools and resources that we can pass on to our colleagues, that allow them to take ownership and accountability for their own wellbeing.
“That sometimes can be a bit of a minefield for people. They don’t really know what they don’t know, or they don’t know where to look. CALMFest has this really beautiful way of bringing that all together in a really accessible format.
“In today’s world, it’s so important for us to be able to provide these tools and resources for our people, so partnering with CALMFest and Sarah has really enabled us to do that in a way that takes the pressure off us and just makes it really easy. Therefore, it’s a bit of a no- brainer! So we’re delighted to be working with Sarah on CALMFest. We’ve seen the real benefits of offering this to our people.”
The aim of the festival is for participants to record feeling at least one per cent calmer – said founder Sarah Markham.
Sarah said: “Our mantra at Calm in a Box is for people to ‘slow down to go faster’. We believe that employees will be far more productive if they have the right energy levels to thrive at work and to do that it is crucial for organisation leaders to realise that a thriving workforce is a calmer one.
“I’ve been blown away by the success of CALMFest so far and I’d love to see more organisations in Derbyshire and around the UK – and abroad – sign up and see what it’s all about. Mental Health Awareness Week is the ideal time to host our festival and we will be raising funds for Mind along the way.
“We’ll be hosting three sessions per day on mental health related topics such as gut health, sleep, neurodiversity, nutrition, financial wellbeing with our expert wellbeing partners – all through the lens of driving business and people performance and effectiveness by improving mental health and mental fitness.”
This year’s event will feature a daily CALM mini masterclass with special guests, plus 1% CALMer challenges with prizes up for grabs and the chance to connect as a community during the final Friday session.
All events will be booked via the CALM hub and session recordings will also be made available for seven days.
The sign-up deadline is 31st March 2025 for participating organisations.
The entrance fee includes unlimited access to the events and activities programme for a company’s people, with the option for participants to make a voluntary donation to Mind when taking part.
To sign up, contact [email protected]
This story was written and shared on behalf of Calm in a Box by Lucy Stephens. Can we share your news and get you in the headlines too? Find out how we can help by getting in touch.
