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Become an instructor

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MHFA England is proud to be in a position to offer two MHFA instructor training programmes:

MHFA for adults (16+) working with, living with and caring for people aged 16 or over

Youth MHFA for adults (16+) working with, living with and caring for children and young people aged 11 to 18

The aims are to:

    • Spot the early signs of a mental health problem
    • Feel confident helping someone experiencing a problem
    • Provide help on a first aid basis
    • Help prevent someone from hurting themselves or others
    • Help stop a mental illness from getting worse
    • Help someone recover faster
    • Guide someone towards the right support
    • Reduce the stigma of mental health problems
We currently have over 700 instructors throughout England.  They come from a wide range of different backgrounds, some mental health professionals, others existing or previous mental health service users.  Some of our instructors are freelance trainers with MHFA and Youth MHFA as an integral part of their training portfolio, whilst others train to be instructors to cascade training down to colleagues within their organisation. All trainers go through our Royal Society for Public Health accredited instructor training programme.  These are delivered by our two national training teams (MHFA and Youth MHFA) at various locations across England. Once a participant has successfully completed the instructor training programme they are appointed a mentor from the national training team whose role it is to support them through their first courses until they become an approved MHFA or Youth MHFA instructor.

Remaining registered:

Following the 7 days training, instructors are required to co-deliver 2 MHFA courses within a year to become approved. Both instructors can count these courses. A longer period may be agreed with the instructor's mentor at the mentors discretion.

After this, instructors are asked to deliver (co-delivery is encouraged, and again both instructors can count these courses) 2 MHFA courses in each subsequent year after approval.

The MHFA course can be delivered to a maximum number of 16 participants.

Additionally, instructors are required to pay an annual membership fee (£60) and attend one CPD training event per year - MHFA run or external (Please click here for details and costs of this years MHFA CPD training events).