Launch of free mental health training programme for local residents
South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust has today announced the launch of a free new mental health training programme for local residents.
Designed to break mental health stigma, raise mental health awareness and improve mental health literacy, the programme will provide over 400 places across 20 half-day and one-day mental health first aid courses over the next 12 months. The training is being delivered by Mental Health First Aid England and funded by NHS Charities Together.
The courses will take place both online and at Springfield Hospital and will provide an understanding of common mental health issues, skills and information to support positive wellbeing, and knowledge and confidence to spot signs and symptoms of mental ill health on a first-aid basis.
Trust Chief Executive, Vanessa Ford, said: “We are delighted to be working with NHS Charities Together and national provider Mental Health First Aid England to launch this innovative training programme for our communities. It is only as a whole community that we will really address mental health and wellbeing and reduce stigma and as a modern mental health Trust we see our role as so much more than providing our core services. This programme will play an important part in breaking down barriers and empowering residents to support their own and others’ wellbeing.
“The programme comes at the start of an exciting new era for local mental health services. We are investing £250m to redevelop mental health hospitals across South West London, modernising our services and opening up our sites to the communities we serve, whilst facilitating over £1bn-worth of local urban development.
"With so much positive change, we hope this new training programme will support wider community engagement as we go on this exciting journey together. A big thank you to every single person who takes part - you are making such a difference.”
The initiative follows the development of Springfield Hospital’s two new state-of-the-art mental health facilities, which now sit prominently at the centre of a growing new community called Springfield Village. The village is made up of over 800 new homes, a public square, retail outlets and a 32-acre park. Local residents are now being encouraged to sign up to the first group of courses scheduled across November and December 2023.
The programme is supported by a special grant from NHS Charities Together’s COVID-19 Urgent Appeal Fund which raised over £160 million during the pandemic. The fund continues to be allocated to support local projects that make a difference to the lives of patients, volunteers, communities and NHS staff.
Ellie Orton OBE, Chief Executive of NHS Charities Together, said: “We are delighted to support the delivery of this sophisticated and far-reaching mental health training initiative.
A dedicated programme like this will benefit a large cross section of NHS staff, service users and residents at the Springfield Village site, and will pay dividends to this community well into the future.
“Not only that, learnings from this project will also be of immense benefit to other organisations and charitable trusts looking to increase the support they can offer locally, at a time when more and better help is so urgently needed.”
In recent years the Trust has been working to tackle the long-term mental health impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic through the South London Listens partnership programme.
As part of this over 20 ‘Be Well Hubs’ have been established in churches, mosques and community centres across South West London, providing safe spaces for local people to turn to when they feel their mental health is low or simply to feel more connected with their local community. The Trust’s new mental health first aid training programme aims to build on this by providing educational courses that empower people to support their own and others’ mental health.
Simon Blake OBE, Chief Executive of Mental Health First Aid England, said: “I am thrilled South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust have secured funding from NHS Charities Together to undertake this ground breaking Mental Health First Aid project to improve mental health literacy and signposting to support services amongst staff and the wider community.
“Stigma and fear of saying the wrong thing often stops people talking about mental health and offering or asking for help. Mental Health First Aid training empowers people to look after themselves, support others and normalise talking about mental health and accessing help and support.
“The last few years have been tough for NHS staff working on the frontline, as well as for the communities they serve whose lives have been affected. Communities that understand about mental health, suicide, the power of conversations and signposting for help can literally change and save lives and that is why this project is so exciting and so important."
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