But the conversations we avoid are the ones that cost us most.
A keynote and workshop programme for Health & Safety, Wellbeing & Mental Health, or both combined as WHS (Workplace Health & Safety) — built to get your people speaking up. About a near-miss. About a colleague who's not OK. About anything that needs to be said before something happens.
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That's an ugly giraffe.
We speak up about mental health the same way we speak up about safety — or we don't. Either both conversations get had, or both get avoided. The reasons we stay silent are the same in either room: fear, peer pressure, embarrassment, "it's not my place," "I don't want to make a fuss." This session works on those reasons directly, so your people can say what needs to be said — about a hazard or about a colleague.
And the cost doesn't stop with one person. It moves outward — in waves — all the way home.
It ripples in both Health & Safety and Wellbeing & Mental Health — same shape, different speed. That's where the room sees themselves, and the people they love, inside it.
All of that. From silence.
It's a full package, and the structure is the same whether you book the keynote or the workshop.
We talk through your audience, the themes you want surfaced, and any recent context — incidents, sickness or stress-absence trends, leadership concerns, a culture moment that's prompting the conversation.
A short piece of comms goes out ahead of the event so the room arrives warmed up and curious.
Anonymous, in the room, on attendees' phones. The wordcloud they put up is the wordcloud the session works with.
90 minutes (Keynote) or 60 minutes (Workshop / site stand-down). H&S, Wellbeing & Mental Health, or combined WHS.
Scored, with verbatim comments, so you can see exactly what landed, what to action, and what to take back to your leadership team.
£3,000 + VAT
For larger audiences: safety days, wellbeing summits, conferences, leadership events, all-hands moments. Delivered to 370 attendees across two Network Rail Safety Days in April 2026.
£2,000 + VAT
For more interactive settings: leadership teams, departmental cohorts, site stand-downs, post-incident or post-event briefings. Refined through facilitated workshops with London Underground — over 1,000 attendee responses, 94% said their experience was enhanced.
The session reframes safety and wellbeing as a human and relational problem rather than a procedural one. Frontline and leadership audiences alike describe it as "fresh," "down to earth," "thought-provoking," "on a level we all understood."
"Ugly giraffes" gives the room shared, slightly irreverent vocabulary for something that usually goes unspoken — whether it's a near-miss on track or a colleague who's clearly not OK. It was the single most-quoted moment of both Network Rail Safety Days, because it made a difficult subject safe to talk about.
Not abstract. People can see themselves, their teammates and their families inside it. The cost of silence stops being about compliance and starts being about people they love — at work and at home.
Same question asked at the start and the end of the session: "Right now, how confident are you that you would speak up if you saw something unsafe at work?" In one Safety Day room, "very confident — I'd speak up without hesitation" rose from 34% to 49% — in 90 minutes. That's the measurable effect of giving people permission and language they didn't have when they walked in.
Your people walk out with phrases they can actually say on Monday morning. "Can we just take five and look at this?" "Are you OK? I mean, properly?" "I think we need an ugly giraffe conversation." Tools that survive the journey back to site or back to the desk.
"Genuinely appreciate the sessions you put on for us. I've heard 'ugly giraffes' a number of times since, which I'm taking as a sign of success."
Neil Fisher Head of Workforce Health, Safety & Environment, Network Rail — sent three weeks after the sessions, by the executive who commissioned them.
"Sarah's session was both engaging and thought provoking. A great example of how to capture an audience."
— Network Rail Safety Day attendee, April 2026"Ugly giraffes! What a great way to start an uncomfortable conversation."
— Network Rail Safety Day attendee, April 2026"Sarah's presentation was straight to the point. She commanded the whole room and spoke on a level we all understood. Well done."
— Network Rail Safety Day attendee, April 2026"Externally beneficial for everyday life as well as work."
— Network Rail Safety Day attendee, April 2026"Sarah is the best facilitator I've ever had in any workshop in my career."
— London Underground programme attendee"Sarah's engagement and delivery was absent of BS that can often whiff around management / self-improvement sessions. Very enjoyable day."
— London Underground programme attendee"Sarah is a positive force whilst delivering content with context — clear to understand, generates talking avenues for the quieter ones among the group."
— London Underground programme attendeeFrom a single Safety Day, April 2026 — measured live in Mentimeter at the start of the keynote and again at the end.
That happened in 90 minutes. Imagine what could happen in 90 days.
"Why don't we speak up when we see something that isn't right?" — and within two minutes, the screen fills with the honest answers. Fear. Embarrassment. Pressure. Confidence. Peer pressure. The session then works directly with those exact words. Nothing abstract. Nothing imported. Just what's in the room.
Yes. That's what the briefing call is for. We talk through your audience, your sector, recent incidents, sickness or stress-absence trends, the leadership themes you're working on, anything you'd like the room to take away. Every session is shaped around your context — H&S, Wellbeing & Mental Health, or combined.
We'll talk it through on the discovery call. As a rule of thumb: H&S if the audience is operational, delivery or frontline; Wellbeing & Mental Health if the priority is mental health, leadership culture, suicide prevention, or stress and absence; combined WHS if you want both — because in practice they're inseparable.
Yes — and Mentimeter works just as well for remote and hybrid audiences. That said, the in-room feel is part of what makes the session land, so for a UK audience we'll always recommend in person if you can. For a global team, remote works well and the engagement holds.
Both formats flex. We've delivered the keynote to rooms of well over 200, and the format scales comfortably to 500+ at H&S, leadership or HR conferences. The workshop format works in interactive settings — leadership teams, departmental cohorts, site stand-downs. What matters is matching the format to your room. We'll talk it through on the discovery call.
Around two weeks is typical — the core of the session is built, so the tailoring happens fast. For an urgent stand-down, post-incident briefing or short-notice slot, we can usually move faster. Tell us when you need it; we'll tell you whether we can.
Everything in the package: briefing call, pre-session brief, the session itself, live Mentimeter, and the post-event feedback report. Prices are exclusive of VAT and expenses.
I've spent 23 years in safety and wellbeing — with work delivered for Network Rail, Transport for London, BT, Openreach, Arcadis, Citi, McKinsey & Company, the British Transport Police and the Metropolitan Police.
My background is in neuroscience and psychology applied to people — keeping them safe and well, and helping organisations thrive because they look after their people. That's what makes Ugly Giraffes and The Ripple Effect different. It treats speaking up — about a hazard, about a colleague who's not OK, about anything that needs to be said — as a human problem, not a procedural one. It uses humour to make hard conversations safe to start. And it gives your people what they actually need in order to act in the moment.
I founded Safe and Well Together because the most expensive thing in any organisation isn't an incident or a long-term absence. It's the silence that came before either of them.
"Sarah's presentation was straight to the point. She commanded the whole room and spoke on a level we all understood."
— Network Rail Safety Day attendee, April 2026If you're in transport, infrastructure, construction, utilities, rail, logistics, emergency services — or any sector where the cost of silence is measured in incidents, illness or absence — this is built for you.
| Format | Length | Investment | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keynote | 90 min | £3,000 + VAT | Safety days, wellbeing summits, conferences, leadership events, all-hands |
| Workshop / Site stand-down | 60 min | £2,000 + VAT | Leadership teams, departmental cohorts, site stand-downs, post-event briefings |
Take a 30-minute discovery call. We'll talk through your event, your audience, the theme you're leaning toward — H&S, Wellbeing & Mental Health, or combined — and whether the keynote or workshop format fits best. No pitch deck. No hard sell.
Book an Ugly Giraffes Discovery Call →