Practical ways to stay well - new dates added for Blue Light courses

As you may have read in Need to Know a few weeks ago, mental health charity Mind is running tailor-made resilience courses for staff and volunteers in the emergency services.

Those taking part will learn ways to stay well while coping with the stresses and strains of everyday life, including the unique pressures that come with working in the emergency services. It’s important to take care of your mental health; one in four people develop a mental health problem every year, and mind research shows emergency services personnel are even more likely to be affected.

Mind is running each course in two different ways because it wants to measure which approach works best:

Half of the attendees will have access to expert online information specially devised for emergency services staff and volunteers.
The other half will attend regular sessions in person. As well as receiving expert information, attendees will be able to share experiences and solutions with each other.

When you sign up, Mind will assign you at random to one of these two groups so they can compare the two different approaches fairly.

Some new dates have been added in our region for those selected for the classroom route, and you can view the full list of available start dates on the Mind website. Each classroom course runs for six sessions, across an eight week period. Sessions take place at the same time, in the same place and on the same day each week.

Mind wants to make the course as accessible as possible to people from all areas of the emergency services, whether you're a uniformed officer, support staff or a volunteer. So, Mind has made a bursary fund available for travel and childcare costs. If you are allocated a place on a course, Mind will contact you with further information about this, including details on what you can claim for and how.

You can sign-up online by filling out an application form, or contact bluelight@mind.org.uk if you would like more information or want to talk about taking part.

Mind also offers advice on mental health or wellbeing; the Blue Light Infoline is just for emergency service staff, volunteers and their families and provides independent and confidential support, advice and signposting. Call 0300 303 5999 or text 84999.

Published 6th August, 2015

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