The Company of Master Jewellers (CMJ) took a big step in looking after the wellbeing of its staff by completing a Mental Health Awareness training course by StoneHawk in association with Darwin Training Solutions. On Wednesday 5th August, all CMJ staff members attended the course to learn more about mental health and how to identify and support those that have mental health issues.
This five hour session, led by Mental Health Consultant, Daniel Darwin of Darwin Training Solutions, is an intense, yet essential training course that highlights some of the most common mental health issues. It also covers typical signs that a person with poor mental health may show, information on how to support those with mental health issues, both inside and outside of work, as well as ways to challenge stigma. The CMJ embarked on this training course with the aim of taking a further step by training two members of staff to become mental health first aiders for the business.
1 in 4 people suffer from mental health issues and following the Covid-19 national lockdown, this number is rising. While people try and find their ‘new normal’ and return to work, they may be dealing with anxieties that they haven’t experienced before and therefore being aware of these issues and how to identify them has become more important than ever.
Emmet Cummins, Managing Director of the CMJ, said: “Just like for this generation, diversity is more commonplace than it was for our parents, our children will find that mental health awareness will be commonplace in their lives. That will and can only happen if the seeds of awareness are sown today, watered and nurtured in our families, communities and places of work.
“The statistics on mental health are staggering and it needs to be addressed. The fact it is often an invisible condition makes it harder to address but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a responsibility to find a way.
“The CMJ have started their journey, not just for the benefit of those working within the organisation today, but so that we establish a culture that ensures it is instilled for those that will come through and manage and lead this business in the future. We have taken that first step with the support of Darwin Training Solutions. Dan has helped arm us with the tools we need to not only understand our own mental health and how to improve it, but also how to identify it in others and support them as a result. Dan’s first hand experience and in-depth knowledge is the perfect combination of theory and reality and we plan to work with him on-going as we seek to establish the right culture within the CMJ. We feel we are in good hands to achieve this.”
Lauren Scattergood, CMJ’s Marketing and Communications Executive, said “There is no company that would not benefit from this training course as mental health is part of nearly everyone’s daily life, whether it be a personal experience, or know someone who has been affected by it. There are many stages and experiences in life that can cause stress, anxiety and depression and it is easy to overlook these or not understand them properly, the result of this sometimes being catastrophic to a person’s wellbeing.
“Dan’s knowledge and personal experience with his own mental health really makes you understand just how many people are dealing with mental health issues and how it can affect every aspect of a person’s life. Dan is so passionate about the subject which makes the course captivating and leaves you asking questions as to what you can do to help or offer support to those in need. It was a fantastic course; every company should take the opportunity to gain confidence to offer support to someone in distress or who may be experiencing a mental health issue.”
For more information on this course, please see the StoneHawk website:
