Delegate feedback (20th July 2023)
"Very good is not a high enough award for Gavin and Hayley, they are amazing people doing amazing things. They bring a wealth of knowledge and personal experience to every course (this is my second requalification). The course is delivered in a way and at a pace that suits everyone. There are regular breaks and the duty of care they display is exemplary. I cannot rate them or this course highly enough. Thank you for another fantastic training opportunity.
A great course and the instructors made everyone as comfortable as possible when talking about difficult subjects. Gavin and Hayley shared lots of personal reflections from their own careers/ life experiences to help paint the bigger picture and create a lovely open and honest safe space where we also felt comfortable to share relevant personal reflections if we wanted to. Also plenty of fun and laughter weaved into the course so it wasn't too heavy going. The content was detailed and informative and the addition of videos and team activities really help reinforce what you're learning. Group discussions were great and I think we really needed them to link everything we were learning to real world context and also just to hear different experiences, ideas, ways of approaching a situation etc. that we otherwise wouldn't have thought of. Overall a great two days and a big thanks to Gavin and Hayley who are both fab!
Thank you Gavin and Hayley for an insightful and useful session. The honesty from which you taught the group and your enthusiasm for the subject matter shone through.
The course was incredibly informative and enjoyable. Hayley and Gavin were exemplary instructors and taught me so much about mental health and how to approach the subject, and how to be a better listener.
The first day I felt somewhat overwhelmed but the second day everything was coming together and making sense and Hayley and Gavin brought such amazing experience and varied knowledge in to help us understand the content in their contextual experience - which was invaluable! thank you so much, I feel honoured to have had their time and teaching and feel much better enabled to help society and my workplace with mental wellbeing.
Whilst my confidence rates 10 I have scored 9 for knowledge and understanding as I feel that no course can provide everything needed and a full score could denote overconfidence or complacency- there's always something to learn. This is my third time training (original course and two follow up re qualifications) and it was the best so far - admittedly the last was in COVID and virtual so lost something as a result - with Gavin and Hayley working so very well together to bring the course to life. It would, I'm sure, be so very easy to present the course in a linear, book driven way but we were offered insight and opportunity to enable us to ask interesting and thoughtful questions, check learning and understanding and use the knowledge and experience they both brought to the table to add that extra dimension to what we were being presented. As our course was a mix of new and existing MHFAiders this was invaluable in generate conversation and discussion with positive and informative outcomes. If I had a recommendation it would be that every course had access to a mental health professional as the benefits to all attending are a large step beyond normal training delivery and an invaluable asset to the MHFAiders at that nascent stage and beyond. As someone who I can only say that I am lucky to have Gavin and Hayley as an available resource to help promote and embed the messages around the understanding of, support for and challenges of mental health and wellbeing in the workplace- the continue to be exemplars what can be achieved and delivered whilst also constantly wanting support the onward change and that is invaluable to us here. Thank you, again, for the opportunity to retrain and to be more than I was before."