Learning More About Becoming a Mental Health First Aider

Reading my usual monthly industry newsletter, something jumped out to me, an advert placed by Stress Matters. What caught my eye was ‘Consider Yourself a Good Listener?’ A skill I’ve actively been working on improving – listen to learn not to respond. I immediately wanted to find out more.

After getting lost in their website and the amazing initiatives they run in collaboration with the events industry, the page scrolled to an advert imploring me to become a Mental Health First Aider with Mental Health First Aid England. The desire to listen, understand and educate more about mental health really resonated and I knew I had to sign up.

I knew that it was important for Primary that I attended so that I could learn and return with a positive message regarding mental health. Alongside helping me, as a Manager, understand and support my team better in this stressful industry I knew it could help me as a human to just be a little kinder to those around me.  After all we are all human here at Primary (despite the repeated requests for an office dog!). With nothing to lose and an abundance to gain for the wellbeing of the Primary team, our Managing Director Dan Stevens instantly approved the time away from the office and off I went to the picturesque Syon Park.

What the course involves

After my two days training I was officially recognised as a Mental Health First Aider, equipped with skills that could help my colleagues, community, friends and family. Ultimately this means I am now better equipped to recognise, assess and approach if somebody around me is struggling with mental ill health and may need some support. To be clear, I am by no means now qualified as a counsellor of any type or able to offer a diagnosis. However, what I am qualified to do is empower somebody that needs it, to talk and seek the right support for them. I have been introduced to a wealth of support resources that I can share alongside the ability to be a non-judgemental listening ear. Sometimes for an employee just to know they can go and talk to somebody in confidence, without judgement is enough to help or start their journey of recovery. Regardless of any training, the best advice if you think somebody around you requires support with their mental health or if you yourself would like to talk to somebody, is to initially seek professional support in the form of your GP.

Using the benefits of knowledge

Syon Park were great hosts and it was certainly a positive environment to learn and share ideas in due to the stunning grounds around us. I have learnt some great stress and wellbeing tools and I certainly did learn to be a better listener, but this will definitely require regular practice and maintenance. The skills learnt are invaluable to friends, family, colleagues and customers and can be instilled into my everyday interactions. If the team feel encouraged, supported and rested we can ensure that our clients receive the best of us here at Primary. I would certainly recommend that companies consider educating their staff in mental health in some way. I now look forward to running a well-being workshop with the team alongside implementing my skills into our project planning and documentation.

A lasting impact

I could insert some scary statistics here regarding workplace mental health (particularly that one about Events Management being the 5th most stressful job in the world), but we all know the rhetoric. Instead I’d rather end on an overall message to look out for your colleagues, be kinder and probably most importantly take time to look after yourself and your own mental health.

Sam Lunn - Head of Events; Primary