Kevin pictured with his son Jesse

With Stress Awareness Month underway throughout April, Kevin Betts, Head of UK Student Recruitment, tells us about his career journey, his role at Sussex and why he is passionate about mental health.

I was the first in my family to go to university 

I grew up in Leicestershire on a pretty rough council estate that had the nickname ‘Colditz’ because nobody could ever escape. I was the first in my family to go to university and that was partly through talent and partly through luck. I was academically bright, but it was an ex-girlfriend’s mum, a teacher, who told me I should go. Before that, I assumed it was only the posh kids that went. 

Brighton quickly became ‘my place’ 

My dad took his own life during my Freshers’ Week at Brighton University, and it obviously had a profound effect on me and my future. I struggled for a while but managed to see it out because I wanted to make him proud.  

I ended up wanting to stay in Brighton as it quickly became ‘my place’ and a maternity cover job cropped up at the University of Sussex in the Widening Participation team. I remember thinking how useful such people would have been to me when I was applying and how I could do something useful for kids from my background. That was 2006 and I’m still here! Now I’m the Head of UK Recruitment and I manage the team that is responsible for engagement with prospective students from across the UK and often beyond.  

Talking about mental health is important 

I’m a passionate advocate of open and honest conversations around mental health, for obvious reasons. I run a small enterprise called Run Things which aims to promote the relationship between mental and physical health. I used running as therapy after my dad died and it helped a lot. I qualified as a personal trainer in 2012 and now try to support people with mental illness or their carers during hard times. 

The way my team works together never fails to amaze me 

The people I work with are wonderful – my team works incredibly hard and the way they work together to deliver such important work never fails to amaze me. And the variety of my role means each day is different. I have flexibility and autonomy to do what I feel is right but also have the support of those around me when it’s needed. Watching my dad work like a dog for very little money – no proper sick pay, no pension and no care from the people he worked for – meant that stuff is really important to me! 

Managing stress during busy and challenging times 

Right now, work is probably the hardest it’s ever been. That’s not necessarily negative – I like a challenge. But it’s also mean stress and anxiety levels can max out at times. I’m pretty resilient and I’m good at ‘putting things down’ when I’m meant to. I’ve got an incredible wife who’s a doctor. Whenever I feel stressed, I remind myself that what I do or don’t do in any given moment isn’t life or death like it is for some people. Another great leveller is my two kids. Frankly, they don’t care if I’ve had a rubbish day – they want to play regardless. It’s easy to leave work stress behind whilst I’ve got a toddler throwing Hot Wheels cars at my head whilst laughing at me.  

Slightly more seriously, I’ve always relied on exercise as a way of channelling any pent-up energy, too. It’s one of the reasons I set up Run Things and spend so much time volunteering with mental health charities and those with lived experience. Having firsthand experience of what bad mental health can lead to, I’m first in the queue to do anything that might life better for me and those around me. 

If you’re stressed, the first thing to do is tell someone how you’re feeling 

Whether you share your feelings with a loved one, a colleague or an anonymous person on the end of a helpline, they’ll listen ─ and just being heard is often enough. Because we can’t see mental health issues like we can many physical ones, there’s a presumption they won’t be taken seriously. That’s not true and knowing you have support and options can be so valuable! 

Ask for help from those who can provide support  

If you’re completely overwhelmed and you can’t see a way to relieve that stress, then ask for further help from those people around you who can provide support. If you feel there’s no way things can improve, you don’t need to manage things better, you need to be managed better. Relieving yourself of some of the pressures is often the answer to that – passing on work, asking for more help with tasks, taking some time off or stepping down as the linesman for your child’s football team are all legitimate ways of reducing stress. 

Make time to do what you love 

I don’t mean for work necessarily – that’s not possible for the majority of people. But taking time to run, to read, to walk, to listen to music, to drink coffee – whatever it is – is important. It’s the airplane analogy, right? You need to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others with theirs. Because if you’re not alright, you can’t help those around you. 

Stress Awareness Month continues throughout April and if you would like to find out more about information, resources and support available to staff, visit the Wellbeing Hub.