At Lisieux Trust, we prioritise the mental health of the Lisieux community, whether that be our team, residents, or tenants.

As part of this commitment, we encourage our team to become certified mental health first aiders, who can provide support to those who need it.

A mental health first aider is trained to be a point of contact for anyone experiencing issues with their mental health or emotional distress. They provide support, ranging from initial conversations to those individuals getting the appropriate help.

Recently 12 members of the Lisieux team undertook a Royal Society for Public Health accredited course to become certified mental health first aiders, which means we now have 17 certified mental health first aiders within the trust.

We hope to increase this number again before the end of the year to around 30 people.

The course covered a range of areas, focusing on factors that can affect a person’s mental well-being and helping the team improve their understanding of mental health.

They worked on practical skills such as spotting triggers and signs of mental health-based issues and how to step in to offer someone in distress the correct support, as well as developing interpersonal skills such as non-judgmental listening.

The group also learnt about how to prepare for emergencies, in a way that best prevents the likelihood of any harm coming to the individual or anyone else.

The feedback was positive. One member of the team who completed the course said: “I thought the training was very in-depth! The materials used were incredibly valuable and the course was well taught. It was one of the best courses I’ve been on. One of the eye-opening exercises we did covered psychosis, and hearing voices in your head, involving a practical exercise with someone talking in your ear while you had a conversation, and it highlighted the difficulties some people face.”

As part of the Lisieux Trust team, we ensure you are supported with continual training and that your skills are kept up to date. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of a rewarding role with Lisieux Trust, go to https://www.lisieuxtrust.org.uk/work-for-us/