Participants in the workshops, which will be run Dr Ian Kenvyn, founder of the Evexia Foundation, will:

• gain a wider understanding of key issues surrounding mental health
• be able to work more effectively with people living with mental health problems
• be able to identify the discrimination surrounding mental health problems
• define mental health and some mental health problems
• relate to peoples’ experiences
• help support people with mental health problems
• look after their own mental health.

 
There is a choice of two dates: Monday 7 October from 2-5 pm and Saturday 12 October from 2-5 pm (coinciding with World Mental Health Day on Thursday 10 October); both workshops will be held at the Bircham Centre, Market Place, Reepham.
 
There are a total of 38 places available and at least 15 people are needed in each session.
 
Please email to reserve a place, either for yourself or a colleague, saying which session you would like to book in for or whether you are flexible as to which session you can attend. Places will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
Key facts on mental health

• One in six British workers will experience depression, anxiety or problems relating to stress at any one time. (Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer, 2014)
• The cost to business of mental ill health in the 2016/17 financial year came to £34.9 billion, equivalent to about £1,300 for every employee in the UK. (Centre for Mental Health, 2017, a 10-year study)
• 84% of UK line managers believe they are responsible for employee well-being, but only 24% have received training. 49% of line managers reported a wish for basic training in common mental health conditions. (Business in the Community, Mental Health at Work, 2017)
• Stress/anxiety/depression is now the biggest cited reason for people being signed-off as unable to work (overtaking muscular-skeletal issues this year)
• The average time off work for someone who has been signed-off with mental health issues is eight weeks

 
The Health and Safety Executive suggests that the “reasonable adjustments” for an employee who has a serious mental health problem are of the same magnitude as for an employee who has suffered a severe spinal injury and become a wheelchair user.
 
More widely, almost everyone will know someone who has a mental health issue or will have an issue themselves, but there is very little discussion about this, often because of misunderstanding, stigma and fear of discrimination.
 
Mental Health First Aid England is a community interest company that has been established to engage with the mental health agenda to offer training in an attempt to normalise the (much needed) conversations about our mental health.