Eighty-two per cent. Four in five working adults. Most of us.

Whichever way you say it, the number of people who reported being stressed during their working week in Axa’s study at the end of last year is enough to cause alarm in even the most British, stiff upper lipped reader.

Thankfully, it seems the world is finally waking up to the dangers of poor mental health, not just in society but in the workplace.

Last month’s Time to Talk day was plastered across LinkedIn, encouraging professionals to speak out and share their experiences in a bid to create an honest dialogue about something that is probably affecting you, or the person sat next to you.

I was humbled to see many of my own network speaking out – including Eddie, a former employee of Westlakes Science Park’s security suppliers, a bloke who always has a smile and you’ve never have thought would suffer from poor mental health.

Admitting that we, as collective workplaces, have a problem that could bring British industry to its knees is a very good first step.

But what about step two: tacking the problem in a meaningful, lasting way. I’ve not only been thinking about this from the perspective of my own employees, but also from the perspective of the 2,000 or so people who turn up to work every day at Westlakes, one of our major commercial property sites.

Good mental health in our homes and business communities is the responsibility of everyone, not just HR or health and safety departments.

And how can we, as a landlord, help the companies who chose to locate their business on our park give their own employees greater access to tools that will improve their mental wellbeing?

Just as we were mulling this over … inspiration came from another of our properties in the form of new Moss Bay House resident Nick Scott and his new business Work Wellbeing.

As soon as Nick, a qualified psychological wellbeing practitioner and counsellor moved in, he got in touch to discuss offering his services across the wider BEC estate.

There was one service in particular that we felt would be perfect – something called Walk and Talk Therapy.

Walk and talk therapy is exactly what it says on the tin; counselling while walking side by side with your counsellor, instead of the traditional face to face setting.

Effectively, it is counselling in motion, and by nature is much more dynamic than a traditional indoor session.

Being physically active helps release some tensions and stimulates new thoughts and ideas.

Many have never tried counselling or therapy before and are daunted by the prospect – especially when to the outside world they are perceived to ‘have it all’.

Often for many, the initial session can help remove this kind of feeling, but what if it stops you from even accessing the help in the first place?

There are many who would have benefited from accessing help, only to feel unable to do so.

Considering an alternative could be the answer. Every day at Westlakes we see those who work on or visit the site getting outside for a stroll.

Not surprising when you consider our external attributes… we have miles of footpaths, beautifully kept green grass, more trees than we can count and enough wildlife to keep David Attenborough occupied until he retires.

This in itself is valuable for the mental health of our team and tenants, a new study shows that the positive wellbeing effects of a good walk can last seven hours.

Simply put, we have the perfect setting for facilitating and promoting the delivery of walk and talk therapy in the workplace, and with BEC donating meeting room space to the programme, Nick is now able to trial walk and talk therapy at Westlakes that can be booked by individuals or blocked booked by a company to enable them to offer the service to their employees.

Walk and talk remains a relatively unused form of counselling but can be very effective and could be the right answer for businesses here in Cumbria.