Mental Health First Aid Training

What is on offer?

In 2025-26 the Midlands Finance Academy will fund NHS finance staff in the Midlands to undertake Mental Health First Aid Training.

The training is a two-day online course, delivered by Arden and GEM CSU and accredited by Mental Health First Aid England. Click here for more information.

What is a Mental Health First Aider?

A Mental Health First Aider is qualified to identify, understand and help someone who may be experiencing a mental health issue. This might be a work colleague who is in difficulty, or it might be someone outside the workplace. The Mental Health First Aider has been trained to listen, reassure, and respond, even in a crisis.

Mental Health First Aiders are important to the maintenance of employee wellbeing. A Mental Health First Aider has been trained in proven techniques, using course materials that were developed with clinical practitioners. Everything taught on the course reflects people’s real lived experiences of poor mental health or mental discomfort.

Click here to see a list of the Mental Health First Aiders in the Midlands. 

Who can apply?

These funded places are specifically for those who have not done this training before.

In order to be allocated a funded place on the course, you must be:

Course details

The two-day course will take place online. The session starts at 9am and finishes by 4pm each day, with morning and afternoon breaks and an hour break for lunch.

The course strengthens a participant’s confidence in supporting people with mental health issues, meaning that a Mental Health First Aider can help to support a workplace effectively.

After the course, support for a Mental Health First Aider is ongoing.  Mental Health First Aid England (the awarding body) regards it as crucial that a Mental Health First Aider stays effective, confident and motivated to help their colleagues. On course completion, the Mental Health First Aider becomes part of a workplace wellbeing community, with access to 24/7 digital support, as well as training resources and ongoing learning and development opportunities.

Those who complete the training will be asked to make themselves available to colleagues in their organisation, but also wider to finance colleagues within their Integrated Care System.

Contact becky.jenvey@hfma.org.uk for any queries.

Course feedback

“Attending the two day Mental Health First Aider course has given me the knowledge needed to enable me to give initial help to someone who may be in a crisis situation. Over the duration of the course I have learned what Mental Health is, what Mental Health First Aid is, what my role as a Mental Health First Aider entails and its boundaries.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course and its content and would highly recommend it to someone else within my organisation.”

“Really great trainer, kept us engaged without ever putting us on the spot. Feel much more confident dealing with MHFA issues now, thank you!”

“This course has been eye opening, great to have other people on there as everyone thinks differently and brings something different to the table- really good.”

“Truly excellent. Outstanding materials; clear, concise and very useable in an MHFAider context. The course leader is outstanding. An excellent communicator, articulate, engaging and able to adapt according to the direction a conversation takes.”

“Very insightful and good to see so many different perspectives on mental health. Really understanding the meaning of empathy and shaping the way I would approach future conversations with colleagues from a health and wellbeing champion role to a MHFAider role.”

“What an excellent course! I loved the interactions without feeling under any pressure to discuss anything that I wasn’t comfortable with. I feel more equipped to be able to support a colleague who has already ‘opened up’ to me about mental health issues whilst understanding the boundaries as a MHFA.”

“I found this course extremely engaging made all the better by the openness in the group and the willingness of participants to contribute. The Instructor was fantastic and set a superb tone for the 2 days which helped with the comfortableness of the group. I’d recommend this course to anyone.”

Refresher course

If you have already completed the training and are coming to the end of your recommended 3-year cycle of accreditation, you may be able to attend a half-day refresher course, funded by the Midlands Finance Academy.

Please send expressions of interest to complete the refresher training to becky.jenvey@hfma.org.uk