We need to work harder as a country to create a society in which everyone’s mental health can flourish and where everyone has security at work whatever difficulties they may face.
Community has long been invested in supporting our reps, to make sure they have the knowledge and skills to support our members suffering with mental ill health and create better workplaces.
Community has recently hosted Mental Health First Aid training courses for workplace reps based in the East Midlands. Twelve workplace reps from HMP Peterborough, HMP Lowdham Grange and Valliant boilers were joined by other reps from the Church’s, Johnson Matthey and Whistl in this classroom-based course. The attendees are now accredited Mental Health First Aiders within their workplaces. This course was delivered by Tracey Douthwaite, a training expert with over 30 years of experience working in front line mental health services.
One of our reps said:
Found this to be a fascinating insight into complex and multiple issues that can develop in the mind. Helped me gain a much better understanding of issue’s that could be affecting others, more common than you would think.
Another said:
I found the course very informative and expanded on former knowledge gained over many years and was able to channel it to understand missing pieces.
It’s important for everyone to know that support is out there for them. At Community, we’ve spent the last year and a half making sure that workers’ rights are protected during the pandemic and our members mental health is supported.
In the last year and a half we’ve been campaigning for more flexible working and on the unequal impacts of Coronavirus on those with disabilities. We published a mental health guide to support our members during this crisis, and established a Member Support Fund for people who may be struggling financially as a result of the pandemic.
As a society, we’ve thankfully come a long way in the way we understand and talk about mental health problems. Yet these problems persist.
Waiting times for services remain punishingly long. Community is here to support our members, and ensure that everybody has the opportunity to succeed.
We offer several courses to help you better understand mental health, for more information click here.
If you are a member of Community and need help or advice, please contact us at servicecentre@community-tu.org or on 0800 389 6332.
© Community Trade Union 2025
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Please note that representation is not provided for investigation meetings.
If you have any further queries, please contact our Service Centre Department on 0800 389 6332 or at servicecentre@community-tu.org.
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