The pressure to keep functioning
People in responsible roles may feel they must continue carrying the needs of others even when their own capacity is being stretched.
Engagements / Public service & wellbeing
Wigan Council
World Social Work Fortnight of Practice
Supporting those who support others.
A keynote and open conversation exploring mental resilience, stress, personal growth and the wellbeing of professionals whose everyday work carries responsibility for other people.
- Audience
- Social work professionals
- Format
- Keynote, interactive Q&A and discussion
- Focus
- Mental health, resilience and personal wellbeing
The engagement
Care carries its own weight
Why Not I was invited to contribute to Wigan Council’s World Social Work Fortnight of Practice with a keynote session focused on mental resilience, stress and personal growth.
Social work is centred on supporting people through complexity, vulnerability and change. That responsibility can also bring emotional pressure, difficult decisions and the expectation that the professional will continue holding space for others regardless of what they may be carrying themselves.
The engagement created an opportunity to turn attention towards the people providing that support—and to consider what it means to protect personal wellbeing while continuing to serve others.
Why lived experience mattered
Different environments. Recognisable pressures.
Kofi Josephs drew on his experiences of international sport, personal adversity, mental health challenges and entrepreneurship.
Elite sport and social work are not the same profession. However, both can involve pressure, responsibility, emotional demand and the feeling that other people are relying on you to remain strong.
By speaking honestly about what happened when pressure was left unaddressed in his own life, Kofi invited attendees to reflect on how they recognise strain, communicate when things are difficult and make room for their own wellbeing.
Themes explored
Making space for the person doing the work
These were ideas explored during the engagement, not an assessment of Wigan Council employees.
Recognising personal strain
Self-awareness can help someone notice when pressure, stress or emotional demand is beginning to affect their wellbeing.
Strength and support
Resilience does not have to mean managing everything alone. Speaking honestly and using available support can be part of sustaining meaningful work.
Growth through reflection
Creating space to reflect can help people understand their patterns, reconnect with their purpose and consider what may need to change.
Interactive conversation
The conversation continued beyond the keynote
The engagement included an interactive Q&A and conversations after the main session.
These exchanges allowed attendees to connect the wider themes with their own professional perspectives and consider questions that could not be answered through a one-directional presentation alone.
Why Not I’s role was not to provide clinical supervision or professional social-work instruction. It was to use lived experience to create an honest starting point for reflection, conversation and greater awareness of personal wellbeing.
Event highlight
Inside the conversation
Watch a glimpse of the keynote and the wider conversation around resilience, pressure and the importance of making space for personal wellbeing.
Documentary gallery
A room built around reflection
Original event photography records the keynote setting, the audience and the conversation in progress.
Responsibility and care
You cannot continually pour into others without recognising what you carry yourself.
Supporting people through difficult circumstances is valuable and demanding work.
Personal wellbeing should not become relevant only after someone reaches exhaustion or crisis. Honest reflection, appropriate boundaries, connection and access to support all belong within conversations about sustainable professional practice.
Looking after the person doing the work does not diminish commitment to others. It recognises that the professional is human too.
From reflection to action
A conversation should lead somewhere
Inspiration can create recognition, but reflection becomes meaningful when it influences what happens next.
Why Not I encourages people to identify one practical action: beginning a conversation, using available support, creating a healthier boundary, checking in with themselves or responding differently when pressure begins to build.
The action will not be the same for everyone. The purpose is to move from simply acknowledging wellbeing to treating it as something worthy of continued attention.
Discover the Why Not I approachThe wider movement
Mental health belongs in every community
Why Not I works across education, sport, workplaces, public services and community environments because mental health is not confined to one sector.
The language and context must change for each audience, but the underlying purpose remains consistent: helping people recognise possibility, speak more honestly and take practical steps towards change.
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How are you supporting the people who support your community?
If your local authority, public-service team, workplace or community organisation wants to create more honest conversations around mental health, resilience and personal wellbeing, tell us what your people are navigating and explore what we could build together.