Mental Health First Aiders

Over the past 12 months, we've introduced our health and wellbeing programme, as well as running awareness sessions for employees and managers, it also includes a cohort of Mental Health First Aiders to support colleagues across the Group with practical advice and guidance on managing and maintaining our mental health.

Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) are practically trained to give support at a time of crisis or act as a point of contact, reassurance and guidance to any GC employee - when it is needed. The role of a MHFA is not to give ongoing support or counselling to individuals, if you do access the MHFA service, you will be encouraged to contact professional services for any long-term needs.

The MHFA service is available for all GC employees and is available during working hours. For out of office hours services you can contact our Employee Assistance Programme, they are available 24/7 to give free, confidential advice on a range of issues. You can contact the helpline by telephone on 0800 030 5182 or visit the online support tools such as wellbeing webinars via the health portal (username: Growth, password: Company). Alternatively, you can also contact the Samaritans.

We have approximately 40 MHFAs currently trained to give support across the Group. All MHFAs will attempt to respond immediately to issues or calls for help however please note that due to other work demands, it may be necessary to arrange a time to call. This is to ensure you are given the time and attention needed to support you effectively.

Brief notes will be taken and stored on a secure system. This is to ensure that we are protecting each and every person who accesses the service. This information is stored in the strictest confidence and only accessibly by the MHFA lead who will monitor the support accessed and advice offered to ensure we continue to offer the best and most appropriate support for colleagues. 

Due to our current working conditions the MHFA will only be available via email, Skype or on their contact numbers. When we return to the office, if you do not have a MHFA on-site you can still get in touch with one of them via Skype and arrange a meeting or a phone call, depending on the nature of the concern/crisis.