Orbit Homes runs Butty and Brew mental health events at three housing sites

Orbit Homes has held its annual Butty and Brew mental health events at three of its developments, bringing site colleagues and contractor partners together for expert sessions and free health checks, parent group Orbit announced on 26 October.

The 2026 round took place at Micklewell Park in Northamptonshire, Victoria Gardens in Norfolk and Rosewood in Kent, Orbit said. The announcement described the events as reaching construction colleagues across the Midlands, East and South of England.

Attendees took part in interactive sessions with mental health experts and received free health checks from nurses, according to Orbit. The sessions also reminded staff of the health and wellbeing support services the group offers.

Brian Nearney, Chief Development Officer at Orbit, said: "We want our people to never feel as though they have to suffer in silence. Our annual 'Butty and Brew' events help bring together colleagues to raise awareness of mental health and encourage comfortable, open conversations about our wellbeing."

He said the group wanted to remind colleagues and partners that help with their wellbeing is always available, whether on site, over the phone or online.

On site

Orbit describes Butty and Brew as an annual series of events dedicated to open conversations about mental health and wellbeing, and the announcement calls Orbit a not-for-profit housing group.

Tom Beeston, Senior Site Manager at Orbit Homes, who attended one of this year's events, said: "Every year we have 'Butty and Brew' and it's so well received by all the trades on our sites."

He said the days were helping to break down the stigma around mental health and the idea that sharing problems is a weakness.

How the series has grown

Orbit Homes' own site shows the format running since at least June 2022, when an event was held at The Hedgerows development in Hellingly during Men's Mental Health Week. That session included a talk from the men's mental health podcast The Black Country Blokes and free health checks from wellness company Bluecrest.

In September 2023, Orbit Homes said it had decided to make the sessions annual following the success of the previous year's events. That year they ran at Micklewell Park in Daventry, The Hedgerows in Hellingly, Mill View in Dereham and Avalon Place in Easton, with health checks from Bluecrest and talks from health and safety consultants R G Wilbrey and the construction charity Lighthouse.

Andy Bishop, Ambassador at Lighthouse, said at the time that he had spoken to about 100 staff and contractors at the Daventry development.

The 2024 round, announced on 9 October 2024, visited Micklewell Park, Felix Park in Soham and Pearson Heights in Whitstable, and covered neurodiversity as well as mental health, Orbit Homes said. Helen Moore, Group Director for Orbit Homes, said then that the sessions formed part of an ongoing commitment to safe environments where colleagues could talk about their mental health.

Orbit Homes also says it is a supporter of the mental health charity Mates in Mind. The charity cites a 2025 Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) report that found 80% of construction workers had felt stressed.

The sites

Micklewell Park, which hosted Butty and Brew in 2023, 2024 and again this year, sits on the outskirts of Daventry near the village of Welton. A second phase announced in February 2024 added 72 affordable homes and eight homes for market sale.

Victoria Gardens, in Great Plumstead, Norfolk, is a 272-home development where more than half of the homes are for social rent, affordable rent and Shared Ownership, with the rest for market sale. Orbit said on 1 September 2026, when local MP Jerome Mayhew toured the site, that the affordable homes are supported by Homes England grant funding.

Orbit, established in 1967, says it manages around 46,000 affordable homes in the Midlands, East and South East of England, that more than 100,000 people live in an Orbit home, and that it builds around 1,000 new affordable homes a year.