Introductions

To get started we would love to know:

• Who you are (Please do not post any personal information on this Community).
• What is your industry and profession, voluntary work, or area of study/development?
• How do you plan using your new mental health skills, either at work or in your community (Please do not post any information identifying individuals)

To begin, write a new post, which should appear at the top.

Hello everyone and welcome to our new Discussion Forum. Please feel free to come on this forum to collaborate, ask a question, share your experiences of being a Mental Health First Aider or post ideas for improving workplace wellbeing. We would love to hear how you are all getting on and what initiatives are working well in your workplace.

You will see that there are two other sections to this forum (click the Discuss icon to see them) - one will help you discover What's New, such as lesson updates, videos and links that have been added to this platform since you did your course as well as links to our Newsletter and Blogs, new signposting info and resources and other updates at MHScot. The other is a collection of Articles of Interest where you will find links to interesting articles, documentaries, books and media sources that we, and hopefully you will find interesting

We often find brilliant articles, research or essays that may get lost in the mire of information we hold, so posting them here keeps them safe for all of us to read.

Please post and share your interesting finds on here so that we can read them too.

Sharing knowledge will improve our practice and help us all to become more effective mental health champions.

Regards, Sonia Last (MHScot)

Hi there - I'm Janice, working in admin and am looking forward to the First Aid for Mental Health course, being the matriarch of the workplace, I've had quite a few people "open" up to me, it will be good to know the right things to say and do.

Am working from home for a couple of days as my throat feels like I've been gargling with razor blades and don't want to bring down my colleagues with the lurgy.

I wonder if the NHS video with the helplines is available to share - it's brilliant!

Hello Janice and welcome to the Discussion chats! I'll look out for you on the course as I often assist the trainers during the live sessions online. Sounds like you are in a prime position to benefit from the course and I'm sure you will take that learning back into your workplace. Hope your lurgy leaves you in peace. Not sure what NHS video you are referring to but if it's NHS then it surely will be shareable if you google it.
All the best, Sonia.

I wonder if the NHS video with the helplines is available to share - it's brilliant!

Afternoon @janice-pottinger ,

I'm not sure if you were referring to the 'Ask, Tell' videos, but there are 3 in the series produced by NHS Health Scotland and you can view them below.

Catherine

Hi everyone! My name is Marta and I work for a tech startup in the commercial team. Becoming a MHFA hs been a goal of mine for years and so it's great to be in a workplace that is so eager to support me on this course. I plan to use this qualification in the workplace - we are a small team and positive mental health is something we really value to support.

Lovely to have you with us, Marta! We're sure you will pick up some invaluable knowledge and skills to take with you to the workplace and beyond.

Hi All,
My name is Siobhan, I work for Scottish Sea Farms. I am currently a shorebsed person, with previous experience in managing a team. I am keen to learn more in this topic and I think that it's great that the company is investing money and time in educating people in it.

Great to have you with us, Siobhan! We work hard to help remove the stigma and break down the barriers surrounding mental health so it's wonderful that your organisation realises the benefits of this too!

Hi I am Robbie Coutts I am Area manager in the Aquaculture industry. I am responsible for a team of around 60 people from varying backgrounds. With a team of this size there are quite a few with pre-existing mental health issues and this is something I am keen to learn more about to help deal with potential issues more effectively. I am keen to help promote a more positive workplace to ensure good mental health for all employees.

Hi Robbie, wonderful to have such a forward thinking Manager onboard! I have no doubt your employees will feel the benefit of your proactivity!

Hi I’m Jess, and I currently work in comms and marketing in the aquaculture industry. I’ve previously done volunteer mentoring for young people so having more skills in broaching challenging topics around mental health will be extremely useful.

Hi Jess, brilliant to have you join us! I'm certain you'll find some really useful information for your tool belt to take away with you.

Hi, I'm Ellie. I work at the Compass Centre which is a member of Rape Crisis Scotland. My role is delivering prevention sessions in schools and working with volunteers. I hope to use the skills I learn to benefit everyone I work with within the wider community and education settings.

hi there,
I’m Magdalena, I am a counsellor/psychotherapist and work for Shetland Women’s Aid. Looking forward to getting new skills and understanding to support people around me.

Wonderful to see so many new faces! Welcome aboard!

Don't forget, we have our First Aid for First Aiders board, where you can discuss any issues or hurdles you may encounter with other students and fully qualified First Aiders.

I'm Nicky and I work for Christians Against Poverty (CAP) as the Scotland Church Partnership Manager. i am also a debt centre manager for CAP and hope to use the skills in my work with debt clients

Hi everyone I'm Karen and I work as an EA to the CEO and CFO at Nucleus. I have both a personal interest in the qualification supporting those outside the work environment as well as my colleagues as I'm in a role where I meet a large number of people across the organisation many of whom open up to me.