Mental Health First Aid England

Mental Health First Aid is an educational course which teaches people how to identify, understand and help a person who may be developing a mental health issue. In the same way as we learn physical first aid, Mental Health First Aid teaches you how to recognise those crucial warning signs of mental ill health.

Developed in Australia in 2000 and now internationally recognised in 23 countries, MHFA courses teach people how to recognise the signs and symptoms of common mental health issues, provide help on a first aid basis and effectively guide someone towards the right support.

To date we have trained over 1200 instructors in England who have delivered MHFA courses to over 180,000 people. Our network of approved instructors works with different sectors, organisations and communities throughout England, delivering a range of courses including Adult MHFA, Youth MHFA and Armed Forces MHFA.

We also deliver training directly to large organisations through our MHFA Client Experience Team. Using our team of associate instructors we can tailor a training package to suit each client's needs and ensure they are receiving a gold standard delivery.

We continually develop our training products to keep them at the cutting edge of research and best practice. Our robust quality assurance processes ensure that instructors deliver training of the highest quality.

Who is it for?

Skilling up schools in mental health

From Easter 2017 we will be offering secondary school staff the opportunity to attend a one day Youth MHFA Schools course and at no cost! The courses will be delivered as part of the government funded initiative announced by Prime Minister Theresa May at the start of the year. Email schools@mhfaengland.org to book a place.

In the first of this three year programme we aim to train at least one member of staff, in over 1000 secondary schools, to become a Youth MHFA Champion. By the end of 2020 every secondary school in England will have been offered the opportunity to attend this important skills based training. This is an important step forward in our campaign to ensure that every school in England has access to Youth MHFA training and social mission to train 1 in 10 people in Mental Health First Aid.

If you work in or with a school who would be willing to host one of the first 100 training courses we would love to hear from you. In return the school will be offered up to four additional places per course. Schools should register their interest by emailing schools@mhfaengland.org, stating where in England they are located.