The Strathmore Wheatland Chamber of Commerce (SWCC) will be hosting two webinar events over the coming weeks with the focus on health and wellness in the workplace. One of those is this Thursday and is on how to take advantage of the benefits of Chamber health benefits and insurance, and the other a comeback story, of how to overcome challenges while dealing with mental health and wellness.

On Thursday, November 25, at 7 p.m. the Chamber will host a conversation with Todd and Tammy Williams of T Williams Insurance.

The couple will tackle Chamber Heath Benefits.

Then on December 9 at 7 p.m., the SWCC will be hosting a virtual forum with former NHL player Bob Wilkie from the group “I Got Mind” Mental Health in the workplace. Wilkie will share his perspective on his mental health journey.

Hayley Poirier, SWCC Chair talks about the information participants can gain from T Williams Insurance and Chamber health benefits.

“I believe that it comes down to cost in numbers. The Alberta Chambers are also organized with the Canadian Chambers of Commerce and so with that kind of buying power, they're able to go out and shop and get the best, most effective benefits programs for all of the businesses,” she said.

“We wanted everyone to know that there is a very cost-effective way of getting insurance for yourself and for your employees.”

Self-care is an important concept, especially now during a global pandemic.

“I suspect that the last person that we really care for is ourselves,” said Poirier. “It’s kind of that human trait and we wanted to make sure that that we talked about how important it was to be able to talk about self-care and recognize that we do have to think of ourselves and also relate that to our employees, checking in with our employees and making sure that they are okay,” she said.

“Throughout the pandemic, it's something that I think we're becoming more and more comfortable talking about, but it's not going away, so we want to make sure that we have the tools in place for people so that they can ask for themselves and ask for their employees,” said Poirier.

Former NHL player Bob Wilkie and “I Got Mind” will be the featured speaker on December 9.

“We are very honoured to have had his group, “I Got Mind Inc.” came forward to us and ask us if they could come and speak to our members and future members and all businesses in our area about mental health.”

Poirier says Wilkie will share his own personal story about overcoming some of the mental health challenges that he's on his life and how he's been able to relate it as a former hockey player, NHLer and coach.

“He's got this wonderful story about how he used his own life experiences to be able to help others that might be in the same situation that he found himself in the past,” she said.

Those who wish to view each of the webinars can visit the Strathmore Wheatland Chamber of Commerce at theswcc.ca and follow the links.