During these challenging times, National Care Group remain committed to supporting our colleagues with their well-being and provide them with every opportunity to seek the necessary help and guidance they require.

As part of the ‘National Care Group Well-being Strategy’ our training team are now accredited to provide ‘Mental Health First Aider’ training, which will equip line managers with the skills and knowledge to provide valuable support to their colleagues.

In addition to providing a confidential advice line and other means of support, National Care Group also aim to encourage our colleagues to be more open and confident in speaking about their mental health and the ways by which we can effectively support them.

Nicola Airey, Training Manager, said: “This programme will be so valuable in supporting our colleagues who continue to do an amazing job, despite everything that is going on, and will be an additional avenue of support.”

The training programme, which is valid for two years, includes how to identify mental health issues early, ways to communicate and provide support, and promoting well-being within services.

This new development of skills gives our line managers the best opportunity to create a culture of support and provide more awareness of mental health, a topic that can be difficult to discuss, but is still an important one.

“We recently completed our first training session, and it was fantastic to see the response and engagement we had from managers who attended. All those who attend the training programme will receive a Mental Health First Aid England accredited certificate on completion,” said Nicola Airey.