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Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England today announced the departure of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Poppy Jaman OBE. After ten years leading the organisation, Poppy has decided to move on with a view to focusing on her role as the CEO of the City Mental Health Alliance and exploring opportunities in the global mental health space.
As one of the founders of the MHFA movement in the UK, Poppy has been working to promote MHFA training in England since its inception in 2007. In this time, she has grown the initiative from a small government project into a commercially successful social enterprise with international standing.
Commenting on the announcement, Poppy said, “After dedicating more than a decade of my career to promoting Mental Health First Aid in this country, the time has come for me to explore the next phase of my professional life. Leading MHFA England has been a privilege, and a fantastic challenge that has brought me a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction, both personally and professionally.”
“Over the past ten years, our community has built a solid foundation for a movement capable of changing hearts and minds throughout the nation, moving us closer towards parity of esteem between mental health and physical health in the process. Whilst I will be sad to no longer be a central part of this, I know that great things lie ahead for MHFA England and all its supporters.”
Poppy will now continue in an ambassadorial capacity for the next six to twelve months, during which time the organisation will welcome a new CEO. In the interim transition period MHFA England’s Senior Leadership Team will operate a joint leadership model.
Professor Mark Watson-Gandy, Chairman of the MHFA England Board, commented, “Poppy has made an outstanding contribution to the MHFA movement in England. Under her leadership over 250,000 people have been trained in Mental Health First Aid skills, helping to make schools, universities, workplaces and our communities more supportive, mentally healthier places. We are immensely grateful for Poppy's hard work in taking MHFA England to its current position of strength, and we will now look forward to the new challenges that lie ahead.”