Looking back
2007
2008
MHFA came to England and was launched under the Department of Health.
In December, we held our first instructor conference. It was at the Queen Elizabeth conference centre in London. Over 100 newly trained instructors came along. Dame Carol Black spoke, there were workshops and talks about lived experience.
In January, the first 14 National Trainers were trained by MHFA Scotland. This was a five day residential course. In September, the first Instructor Training programme
took place. They used photocopied manuals because the new ones weren’t printed yet!
2016
2017
The Fortuna 50 named us as one of the UK’s fastest growing women-led small businesses. We had an entirely female executive board and attended No. 10 Downing Street to celebrate. On World Mental Health Day (10th October) an Early Day Motion was taken to Parliament. It called for Mental Health First Aid to be included in the regulations that all employers must follow under the Health and Safety at Work Act. We refreshed our brand. Our logo was designed to show the meeting of minds. It was abstracted to avoid association with gender or age. The two minds join to form an M which represents mental health and the connecting of a community. We provided consultancy support for MHFA Ireland to set up their workplace function.
We were included on the inaugural Financial Times 1000 special report. This is a list to recognise the innovative and fast-growing companies that are the driving force of the European economy.
We launched the government funded Youth MHFA in Schools programme.
We launched the Higher Education MHFA One Day course, together with charity Student Minds. On World Mental Health Day, our then CEO Poppy Jaman was invited to deliver a briefing to the Cabinet at No.10 Downing Street. In November we celebrated the tenth anniversary of MHFA in England at the National Conference Centre in Birmingham.
2018
Poppy Jaman received an OBE in recognition of her services to people with mental health issues. Poppy Jaman moved on from her post and Simon Blake was appointed as our new Chief Executive. We supported the release of the UK’s biggest ever stress survey. This was in partnership with the Mental Health Foundation. It revealed a generation gap in howwe deal with mental health. The ground-breaking Thrive LDN Youth MHFA in London Schools programme was launched. An Open Letter to the Prime Minister was signed by more than 50 leaders of some of Britain’s biggest employers. It called on the Government to prioritise its manifesto pledge to amend health and safety legislation to put mental and physical first aid on an equal footing. The Health and Safety Executive updated their first aid guidance on mental health.
Poppy Jaman OBE
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