To support employers and workers transitioning to working from home arrangements in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gallagher Bassett (GB) has released a children’s story designed to promote positive conversations about quarantine and working from home.
Gentle Bear’s Big Hibernation, developed in collaboration between GB staff and child psychologists, children are invited to follow Gentle Bear as he begins to understand the ‘big hibernation’ and why his Aunt now needs to do her work from their cave.
For more than a decade the GB Gentle Bear has been a key part of GB’s way of giving back to the communities in which we operate, particularly in times of crisis, by providing children with comfort and support.
Andrew Spilsbury, Global Vice President - Brand Strategy, Management & Growth, discussed the significance of releasing a children’s book:
“There are a lot of fantastic resources out there to help organisations respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and support their employees. I think what’s special about this book is that it’s really designed to be useful in a home environment.”
“A lot of the traditional tools we use to communicate with workers about safety issues - things like posters, checklists and toolkits - might be designed more with a workplace setting in mind. This is something quite unique in that it’s communicating about an important workplace wellbeing topic, how to feel comfortable working from home, but using a medium that’s unique and completely relevant to the home setting.”
Children are invited to follow Gentle Bear as he begins to understand the ‘big hibernation’ and why his Aunt now needs to do her work from their cave.
Nadia Forlani, Tender Manager, discussed the inspiration behind Gentle Bear and his Aunty, Jenny Gentle:
“Gentle Bear has been GB’s symbol of caring and compassion for over a decade now. His mission is to support children who are going through a difficult time, so it made sense that he would help when so many families are experiencing challenges as a result of the pandemic.”
“Families don’t exist in one configuration or size, so we wanted Gentle Bear’s family to look different from the traditional nuclear family. This also provides an opportunity for people to speak to their children about families that might look different from theirs, but are the same in all of the ways that are important.”
The Gentle Bear Program began in collaboration with the South Australia Police and has expanded into every state and territory in Australia. The bears were initially given to police officers to hand out to children involved in serious traffic accidents or domestic violence as a way of providing comfort.
Gentle Bear’s role adapts to meet contemporary challenges. During the bushfires that ravaged the country in 2019, Gentle Bear provided comfort to children who had lost their homes, and most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s taken a role in teaching children about the changes of being in isolation.
Andrew Spilsbury added:
“My hope is this provides a fun and reassuring way for families to have conversations about quarantine, remote working and working from home and that this helps people feel positive about adjusting to the new normal.”
“As a TPA claims specialist we exist to help people recover and thrive following a crisis and I hope this helps them to do just that. We’ve already had some great feedback from clients who have read the book with their children or grandchildren during homeschooling sessions and for me to know we’re helping families have positive conversations about a pretty scary topic is incredible.”
The storybook is free for anyone to download. To get your copy of the storybook, follow this link.
