Are charities facing a wellbeing crisis?

Posted on: February 1, 2021

In September, Dan Jones, global head of campaigns at WaterAid, found himself crumpled on the edge of his bed, “sobbing in pain and desperation as my wife tried to convince me I wasn’t losing my mind”.

The Covid-19 pandemic had pushed Jones’ work to a point that it felt as though it was taking over his life. Long days with no clear boundaries had become the norm, he says, combined with an interim leadership role and personal pressure to prove his worth during a period of extreme uncertainty.

“There was also lots of long overdue debate within our sector about decolonising international development, and I was having some serious existential angst about how I, a white British man, could play a role in this – or if I simply shouldn’t be working in this field any more,” he says. “At the same time, many of the ‘taps’ in my life, the joys and replenishments, got switched off.”

This was not Jones’ first experience with mental ill-health: he describes his anxiety manifesting as thick clouds flooding his mind and clogging it up with negative thoughts.

Read more here.

Author: Steering Member
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Categories: News

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