Vincent has now been a qualified mental health first aider at Force One Limited for 12 months, working as an operative out in the field. He operates suction excavators daily, alongside a growing team of colleagues on a variety of work sites.

A year later, we decided to document Vinny’s thoughts and experiences on becoming a mental health first aider and its role in his day to day work. Vinny thoroughly enjoyed the training course itself and found it eye opening and challenging to learn about the struggles many people face with mental health.

When speaking to Vinny, he said that becoming a mental health first aider is the best thing he has ever done. It has helped him support others in the workplace as well as in his personal life. The tools that he was taught are transferable and have enabled him to understand and support others in a way that he wasn’t previously aware of. He noted that he has been a popular resource within the Force One team and that team members of all ages have spoken to him for advice and guidance both formally and informally. He was shocked at how many people he had spoken to in such a short space of time and that it wasn’t always direct mental health support that colleagues discussed with him. It varied from thing such as worries, feelings of stress or confidence issues and allowed him to provide advice or simply a non-judgemental ear to listen.

Ahead of ‘Time to Talk day’ on 6^th February 2020, Force One Ltd with the help of our in-house mental health first aiders will be promoting awareness across our company with posters, conversation starter packs and mini games provided by Time To Change.