Welcome to MHFA England
Developed in Australia in 2000 and now internationally recognised in twenty one countries, the MHFA course teaches delegates over two days how to recognise the signs and symptoms of common mental health issues, provide help on a first aid basis and effectively signpost towards support services. To date, there are over 650 instructors in England who have delivered the MHFA course to over 55,000 people.
Initially brought to England from Australia in 2006 as a programme within the Department of Health, the subsequent formation of MHFA England as a Community Interest Company in September 2009 has helped ensure our independent sustainability. At MHFA England CIC we continue to train instructors across England and develop new courses, while continually updating current materials to ensure their continued relevance. MHFA England's social objective is to increase the mental health literacy of the whole population, our aim being to train one in ten of every adult in England, thus increasing confidence, addressing stigma and improving the chances of early intervention.
We have four training products; the MHFA course - a skills development programme for anyone over the age of 16 wanting to effectively recognise and support someone in distress, the Youth MHFA course for those working and living with young people aged 11 to 18, the MHFA Lite course which is a three hour introductory mental health awareness course and MHFA for the Armed Forces Community, to be rolled out in the summer of 2013. (Press release with details here)
We continually quality assure our training products and apply a robust quality assurance process of the instructors that deliver them. Independent evaluations show that our products are of high quality and they achieve their learning outcomes by consistently improving participants confidence and skills. Personal testimonies from mental health first aiders can be found here. Testimonies from organisations using MHFA as a tool for mental health wellbeing can be found here.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has accredited both the Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor training programmes. MHFA England also enjoys the patronage of Lord Kamlesh Patel.
Big Lottery Funding has also supported MHFA England CIC by providing funding for the film clips used on the MHFA Course.
