Help and Resources Resources & support All information resources Supporting your employee Your organisation can support people affected with aplastic anaemia Our recent survey of people with rare bone marrow conditions told us that; nearly a third (28%) would like advice on how to speak to their work about the impacts of their condition and 54% describe the level of public understanding of the condition to be 'no understanding at all'. You can help change this at your work place. Download our 'Workplace Pack' for ideas and advice to support your employee who has aplastic aneamia or has a loved one with aplastic anaemia, so they feel seen and included. What is aplastic anaemia? Aplastic anaemia has nothing to do with iron deficiency anaemia, it’s bone marrow failure. Aplastic Anaemia is a rare and life-threatening blood disorder caused by the bone marrow not functioning properly. In people with aplastic anaemia, the bone marrow fails to produce enough of all three types of blood cells. People with aplastic anaemia are treated in the same wards as people with blood cancer and receive similar treatment (for example they may have chemotherapy, or a bone marrow transplant). Top ten tips to support your employee Lisa had ATG treatment and two bone marrow transplants over the course of 10+ years. Prior to diagnosis in 2011, she had been rapidly scaling the career ladder in education. On her return to work after ATG, Lisa was told she was no longer eligible for promotion as she ‘hadn’t proven herself’ during the time she’d been on sick leave having treatment. A ‘glass ceiling’ had been put in place and is one of the reasons Lisa left the profession several years later. Here, she shares her top ten tips of how you can support your employee; Be informed and educated: Make sure key staff understand my physical and mental health challenges. HR and occupational health can offer valuable support for both of us, too. Ask me for guidance: Find out how you can support me best, considering things like workload; sick leave; financial implications; equality, diversity & inclusion, and access to support services. Wellbeing check-ins: Agree a schedule of informal catch-ups with a leader/manager I trust, focused on open and compassionate communication. Health first: Encourage me to prioritise my health over work and assure me that you will support me as best you can through any treatment and recovery. Flexibility and adaptability: Offer flexible working arrangements and adjust my work environment as necessary. Empowered decision-making: Let me lead the way, as far as possible, in decisions affecting my work. Collaborative job adjustments: If changes to my role or responsibilities need to be made in the best interests of the organisation, do it with me rather than to me. Show appreciation: Ensure I feel valued, even if I can't do as much as before or keep up with others. Support career progression: Help me pursue career goals now or in the future, despite my health challenges. Having something to strive for gives me purpose. Be kind: Aplastic Anaemia is rare, my journey will be tough and potentially long. Don’t worry if you don’t ‘get it’ - a smile, listening ear and showing you care means more than anything. Listen to Lisa's story on Magical Match, a podcast all about real people with real stories around the important topic of stem cell donation and transplants. In this two part episode to hear about Lisa’s career progression struggles and her determination to keep going forward and her subsequent health issues which led to her relapse and her stem cell transplant. Listen to the podcast here. Support The Aplastic Anaemia Trust Supporting us is a great way to show someone affected by aplastic anaemia you are there for them and understand. A few ways to get involved; Charity of the Year Choose or nominate The Aplastic Anaemia as your company’s charity partner. Working with you, we'll offer you bespoke support, you'll be able to participate in our calendar of events or we can offer your own event such as a tough mudder, an abseil or a fire walk. Donate Give a one-off donation, fund an entire project, make a regular gift or double your donation with and support our Big Give Christmas appeal. Support our Big Give Christmas Appeal. Pledge as little as £100 to become a Big Give Pledger! The Big Give Christmas Challenge allows us to double our donations with match funding provided by a charity’s pledgers (company’s like yours) and Big Give’s Champions. To take part in The Big Give Challenge we need companies, like yours to pledge to match donations, you can pledge £100 up to £2,500. If your company usually makes a donation at Christmas time, this is a lovely opportunity for your company's Christmas donation to go even further - as you'll be helping us to raise more, effectively doubling your contribution! Last year Armstrong Richardson pledged £700, this went towards our £2500 pledge total. This £2500 was then matched by the Hospital Saturday Fund, meaning we had £5000 in potential match funding. We were able to raise £15,000 in our Christmas Appeal thanks to companies like Armstrong Richardson. Companies can support us as pledgers for as little as £100. If you'd be interested in helping our Christmas appeal this year, please get in touch with Hannah. - [email protected] or call 07849691356 Volunteer Days If your workplace allows employees to have volunteer days, why not join us on a cheer point at events like the London Marathon, RideLondon 100 and The Great North Run. Matched funding Many companies offer matched funding. If your employee is fundraising for us why not offer to match fund the amount they raised.- a really effective way of boosting their fundraising that could double their total! LinkedIn Follow us on LinkedIn Organisations big and small can help support people with this rare form of bone marrow failure. Get in touch and we'll put together a bespoke package for you. Please contact Hannah, our Community Fundraising and Events Manager [email protected] or 07849691356 Are you looking for support from your work place? If your an employee that needs more support from your workplace or advice please contact our support team, give us a call on 0300 102 3202, email us at [email protected] Manage Cookie Preferences