WCG staff complete early suicide prevention training led by mental health charity

Staff at a Midlands college group have been among the first to complete early suicide prevention training delivered by a leading regional mental health charity.

More than 70 staff at WCG (Warwickshire College Group) have completed the training delivered by South Warwickshire and Worcestershire Mind (SWWMind).

SWWMind has received funding from the Government’s Suicide Prevention Fund to deliver this early suicide prevention training to schools and communities in South Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

The training series was delivered as a mixture of online and in-person sessions and offered to staff at the six colleges which are part of WCG, including Royal Leamington Spa College, Warwick Trident College, Rugby College, Moreton Morrell College, Pershore College and Evesham New College.

It saw staff take part in a six-hour workshop which enabled them to look after their own wellbeing, as well as supporting WCG colleagues and students.

They were trained to recognise early signs of mental health distress in staff and students, how to support those individuals and how to best initiate conversations around suicide.

SWWMind, based across the counties, will continue to work with the college group on future initiatives, including activities on World Mental Health Day in October.

Emily Halderthay, of SWWMind, said:

“This was one of the first groups we delivered this training to, with six workshops for staff in a variety of job roles across WCG.

“As part of our bid for funding for the programme, we identified a clear need in the region for suicide prevention support. The statistics are going in the wrong direction nationally but even more so regionally.

“Young people are one of the high priority groups. We are early intervention experts at SWWMind, and we want to be able to identify any issues before they escalate to a crisis point.

“The course covered elements of mental health and how to recognise warning signs, with a lot of interactive and role-playing scenarios. These exercises shed light on active listening and what triggers might be a warning sign.

“We encourage participants to not be afraid to ask the question ‘are you feeling suicidal’ and then advise on how to have that initial conversation.

“A video will be filmed over the summer for workshop participants, which is designed to help encourage students to speak out when they are struggling or see someone else struggling.”

WCG is signed up to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter from the Association of Colleges. As part of its commitment, the college has a mental health student ambassador group and staff wellbeing initiatives.

The college group also has a team of mental health coaches who work with students and provide support to enable students to access the curriculum with strategies.

Judith Abbott, Specialist Support Lead for Mental Health at WCG, added:

“This training is really important for our staff and will enable them to make the right decisions and give impactful advice when speaking to colleagues or students.

“We want WCG to be a community not worried about having those conversations and our staff to be equipped to intervene early if they identify any early signs of suicide.”