More than 100 business people from across the county will gather for a special conference focusing on mental health at work.

Staged to coincide with World Mental Health Day today, the Mental Health in the Workplace conference takes place at County Hall in Maidstone.

People at the conference will hear from Kent businesses as well as Olympic sportsman Jack Green, Kent police and crime commissioner Matthew Scott and Ewan Main from the national charity MIND.

The free event is organised by Kent Police, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Kent County Council and was announced earlier this year.

FSB development manager Alison Parmar said: “One in four of us will suffer some sort of mental health issue.

"This conference will show where employers and employees can go to get advice and support.

“Small businesses make up 97% of the Kent economy.

"Running your own business can be immensely satisfying but with it comes great responsibility.

"There is a raft of organisations offering preventative advice around mental health – this event will highlight those on offer and help let businesses make the right choice for them and their employees in terms of what sort of advice they need.

"We hope it benefits many people and goes one step towards ending the stigma around mental illness. ”

KCC's public health consultant, Jess Mookherjee, added: “Given Kent’s higher than average rates of suicide, we want to work extensively with partners across the county to tackle and improve mental wellbeing, and workplaces and employers are important as each life lost is a tragedy.

"We welcome this opportunity to work with Kent’s businesses by enabling them to find and use the tools available to keep their staff safe and healthy.

"This event will showcase the huge range of services available in Kent and our role in keeping workers in small businesses healthy.”