Interface

Summer 2021 41 Construction Industry Charity and funded with £1 million from the CITB. Its aim was to achieve the following key objectives: • Train 288 Mental Health First Aid Instructors • Trained instructors to subsequently train 3,000 Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs) in the industry. • To encourage the industry to engage and embrace the mental health agenda and raise awareness of mental health issues in the industry in general. • To make best practice and information readily and, wherever possible, freely available. • To ensure that the industry takes a huge leap forward to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health by getting the conversation started while educating as many as possible on where and when to seek help. The MHFA Instructors course lasts seven days but is delivered over a six-week period to allow for reflection on the complex issues raised. Attendees said that hearing first hand from guest speakers who were prepared to share their personal mental wellbeing experiences provided invaluable insight into real life journeys and helped to get behind the raw figures. Many reported that being on the course was both emotionally challenging and life changing. Key Achievements of the MHFA Instructors Programme: • 284 Mental Health First Aid Instructors trained resulted in £1,215,141 of social value • Instructors delivered training to 5,318 Mental Health First Aiders, outperforming target by 66% and resulting in £3,638,842 of social value • 3349 Mental Health Awareness courses delivered £654,730 of social value • Total social value of the Mental Health First Aid Instructors Programme £5,508,713. • The estimated social value created by the project was over £5.5 million. CITB Engagement Director, Deborah Madden, said: “This project has outstripped expectations by helping to train over 5,000 mental health first aiders. Their impact will be enormous, providing vital support to people when they need it most. “Mental health and wellbeing in construction is a large and complex issue that won’t be tackled overnight, but this project is an important step in the right direction.” CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity, Bill Hill, added: “As one of the founder members of Building Mental Health we are delighted by the social value this training programme has delivered and we now have another 5000 front line mental health first aiders. “The report cites that the instructors trained are under no illusion that the industry still remains much closer to the start of the journey towards de-stigmatizing poor mental health than the end, but there are extremely positive outcomes so far. “Together, we have been able to offer a fresh, industry-wide approach to ensure mental health support is available for all and to drive a more inclusive and caring cultural change in our industry for this generation and the next.” CEO of MHFA England, Simon Blake, commented: “As well as demonstrating incredible social value, the ‘Mental Health First Aiders Programme’ is helping to tackle the stigma of mental health in the construction industry. We want everyone to be able to talk freely about mental health and seek support when needed. “The construction industry now has the highest number of Mental Health First Aid Instructors of any other vertical industry channel which is a huge achievement. We look forward to continuing this ground breaking partnership in the years ahead.” << Source: Builders Merchants News (BMN) “Mental health and wellbeing in construction is a large and complex issue that won’t be tackled overnight, but this project is an important step in the right direction.” Deborah Madden, CITB Engagement Director.