Fund ten new Mental Health First Aiders

Mental Health Awareness Week is from 12th May to the 18th May. If you were in danger, you would head for a safe place. Someone suffering from a mental health issue may perceive that there is nowhere safe in the workplace where we are all exposed in the performance of our roles. The National Trust is no different to any other workplace in this respect. If anything, the direction for help is all the more poignant in such a people-facing organisation. Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) are a point of contact during working hours if someone, or anybody they are concerned about, experiences a mental health issue or emotional distress. They are not therapists or psychiatrists, but they can give someone initial support and signpost people to appropriate help if required. Skills require training and training costs money. The National Trust raises a lot of amazing charitable money but the demands for unrestricted funds are extensive. I want to raise money that would be restricted to this specific area. I plan to walk 170 miles unaided with my wife Marion from Inverness to Dunnett Head, the most northerly tip of the mainland of Britain to raise enough to fund the training of ten more MHFAs across the regions. These newly trained MHFAs can make a substantial impact across the country and I hope you will help me raise the necessary funds. Journeys, like life, are full of triumphs and troubles and I will update our progress as we go. Help us make this a triumph.