Mental Health

Become a 'Mindful Towns' Mental Health Champion

We want to recruit 250 Mental Health Champions over the coming 18 months to help to support our towns and parishes to become more 'mindfully' connected places. 

The Breckland Mental Health Community Partnership (BMHCP) consists of Breckland Council, Norfolk and Waveney Mind, Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney, and YANA. It has created the 'Mindful Towns' project to offer a free-to-access programme of Mental Health Champion training. This is available to Breckland community organisations, small businesses, and residents through which they can:

• Learn and understand more about Mental Health
• Develop the confidence to support someone in need and signpost them on to help
• Contribute towards making the places they live and work more 'Mindful' spaces to be
• Receive support to generate 'Mindful' activity within their local communities 

The training programme is being delivered by Norfolk and Waveney MIND, and the Wellbeing service, the county's two leading mental health service providers and offers various training options.

The Training Options - New Dates & Courses for 2022-23 

Option 1 - Managing Mental Health in the Workplace

Dates: 5th July - Attleborough / 12th October - Dereham / 11th January '23 - Swaffham  / All times 9:30 - 13:00, venue confirmed upon booking 

Designed with Managers, Line Managers and Supervisors in mind, this workshop explores the fundamentals of creating a workplace culture that supports mental health, creativity, productivity and wellbeing within your team.

This course enables managers/supervisors to take a more pro-active approach to supporting their staff wellbeing in a workplace setting.

With a constantly changing workplace landscape, it also includes information and best practice advice on how to support your remote workforce. 

Topics include:

• Recognising symptoms of mental ill health
• Reducing anxiety and stress (in your staff)
• How do we communicate
• Signposting, referrals and supportive conversations
• Includes group scenarios for attendees to work through

Book a place on our Managing Mental Health in the Workplace course

Option 2 - Suicide Awareness (QPR) 

Dates: 5th August - Dereham / 4th November - Watton / 10th February '23 - Thetford / All times 13:00 - 16:30, venue confirmed upon booking 

The course provides the  knowledge and skills required by any staff and support agencies that are likely to have direct and/or substantial contact with people who may be at risk of mental ill health, self-harm or suicide, meaning that they have an important contribution to make in mental health improvement and self-harm and suicide prevention. 

QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer) Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Awareness and Intervention, is a 3.5 hour workshop designed to teach the warning signs of suicide crisis and how to respond. 

Content

• How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide.
• The common causes of suicidal behaviour. 
• Looking at the lived experience of suicidal thinking.
• The warning signs of suicide.
• How to get help for someone in crisis. 

Book a place on our Suicide Awareness (QPR) course

Option 3 -  Mental Health Awareness Training

Dates: 5th September - Swaffham / 5th December - Watton / 8th March - Attleborough / All times 9:30 - 13:00, venues confirmed upon booking 

This intermediary course gives a more in-depth insight into Mental Health Awareness, and in addition to covering how to support and signpost someone in need, you will also learn how to spot the signs of someone who may be struggling, and how to approach them sensitively. The session will also discuss what it means to be a Community Mental Health Champion and how Norfolk and Waveney Mind can support you in that role.

Target groups:

• Voluntary support organisations.
• Community-focused businesses.
• Community organisations wishing to develop more 'mindfully focused' provision.
• Town and parish councils.
• Faith-based groups.
• Community leaders. 
• Anyone interested in actively bringing mindful activity to their local area.

Book a place on our Mental Health Awareness course

Option 4 -  Mental Health First Aid Training - Two Day Course

Dates: 29th & 30th September - Thetford / 24th & 25th January '23 - Dereham / All times 9 - 17:00, venues confirmed upon booking 

This two day nationally recognised qualification from Mental Health First Aid England, qualifies you as a Mental Health First Aider.

This is an ideal course for anyone, but particularly those who want to train staff or volunteers to become recognised Mental Health First Aiders within their organisation.

Format

• Two day face to face online course. Option with online course to spread sessions over  four half days.
• Learning takes place through a mix of presentations, group discussions and workshop activities.
• All attendees also get access to ongoing support, top up training, networking and events as part of membership of ourMental Health Champion Network
• Certification as a Mental Health First Aider and an extensive manual/resources.
• An in-depth understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect wellbeing.
• Practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues.
• Confidence to reassure and support a person in distress.
• Enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgemental listening.
• Knowledge to help someone recover their health by guiding them to further referral support.
• Ability to support an adult with a long-term mental health issue or disability to thrive.
• Tools to look after your own mental wellbeing.

Book a place on our Mental Health First Aid Training course

Become a Mindful Town or Village

While the Mindful Towns Mental Health Champions training is open to everyone, priority will be given to those being put forward by Breckland-based community organisations, small businesses, and local grass roots groups. We are particularly interested in hearing from groups of organisations from shared areas who'd like to develop their local parish into a 'Mindful' Town or Village, so we can discuss running bespoke training courses for groups of volunteers.

Find out what it means to be a Mindful Town. 

Please email your contact details and your requirements via the link below.

Become a Mindful Town or Village

The focus of this project is to increase the capacity we have to support people in our communities through the organisations and workplaces they engage with. It will also look to generate more mindful activity within our communities as a first layer of prevention. By doing so, we hope to help our residents maintain good levels of mental health and wellbeing.