No 10 is calling!

Tuesday 19 April 2016 I was a guest of Telereal Trillum at Tomorrow’s People event hosted by Samantha Cameron at 10 Downing Street.

 

The event was to launch Tomorrow People audit of their finances.  Charities securing funding have to be transparent on how they spend funding and the return of such investment.

 

The audit was carried out pro bono by a senior economist at the Bank of England who was a great speaker, captivated the room and delivered some core facts.  Unusual for economists!  The most impressive is for every £1 invested in a programme like Tomorrow’s People over £4.15 is returned.  Tomorrow’s People run a variety of programmes from mentoring, coaching and upskilling disadvantaged people to enable them to be ready for work.

 

It made me wonder what the return was for every £1 invested in Growing Talent.  After all, every person who completes goes into permanent work.  So apart from getting off benefits, there’s the spending power they have locally as well as the added value they deliver to the businesses they join, and being positive role models to family and friends.

 

Everyone I spoke to about Growing Talent was very enthused – even Tomorrow’s People wanted to work with us!

 

So what of Number 10 itself?  The terraced house belies the massive tardis it really is.  Filled with history, ornate decoration, portraits of previous prime ministers, chandeliers – I certainly wouldn’t want to dust it!  Unfortunately all mobiles were confiscated so I can’t share with you.

 

A wonderful experience and a great event to see the work being done in moving people closer to employment.

Mental Health First Aid

Since training as an Instructor with MHFAEngland, I’ve noticed the growth of awareness and knowledge amongst the global world of business just how important this subject is to their bottom line – which is great.

 

Mental Health Awareness Week commences 16 May 2016 with events nationally to showcase the importance of taking mental health seriously.  World Mental Health Day is 10 October and the theme is ‘Dignity in mental health: psychological and mental health first aid for all’.  Now in 23 countries and the global remit to join forces globally to create one inclusive course, MHFAEngland is leading the way in the UK.

 

BITC recently published a report recommending Mental Health First Aid training for all managers in the workplace!  MHFA seems to be mentioned regularly in the press and the CEO – Poppy Jaman – was recently at Downing Street for a meeting with the Prime Minister.

 

As part of my CPD, I undertook the MHFA Lite Instructor training earlier this year.  Although I already design and deliver three hour courses, it was interesting to see different materials.

 

Feedback from the latest MHFA Standard I ran in London for 13 people, showed an increase in knowledge over the two days of at least 6 points – which is great and some comments below:

 

‘The Instructor was the best motivator’

‘Jane is amazing at her job and I am glad I met her’

‘Learnt more than expected and enjoyed the course’

‘This was an amazing course, great materials and information, mostly the best instructor. I learnt so much – thankyou!’

‘Learnt alot, amazing course, fells like a breath of freshair’

 

If you are looking to upskill your team in this area, don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss.