Fix Auto UK To Accelerate Its In-house Mental Health First Aider Course

Fix Auto UK is ramping up the number of Mental Health First Aider training courses to meet its goal of ensuring every Franchise Partner will have at least two qualified mental health first aiders on site. 

Since announcing to the industry last autumn its plans to be the first repair network in the UK to offer courses that educate candidates on how to identify and help people struggling with mental health issues, Fix Auto UK has staged three events with 39 people qualifying for their official Mental Health First Aider England (MHFA) certificates. 

With the in-house course format firmly established, more are now planned to be held at the network’s head office in Leicester with additional plans being made to take the programme out on the road and held regionally.  

This coincides with the recent announcement a new law was presented to parliament that could lead to every business in the country having to offer mental health first aider training and having a qualified mental health first aider on site. 

Fix Auto UK’s initiative is spearheaded by Regional Business Manager Carl Norton, who was sponsored by the network to become a qualified MHFA England First Aider Trainer. 

Said Carl: “We have had a broad spectrum of candidates ranging from business owners, heads of departments and head office senior management along with bodyshop managers, technicians and my fellow regional business managers attend the courses and the feedback has been extremely positive. One business owner freely admitted after the course that, if he’d previouslu known the signs surrounding mental health illness, he wouldn’t have lost a key member of his team who, on reflection, was struggling at work and his classic signs were missed.  

“We now have the format for the course formalised and, as I see it, we’re now in a position to accelerate things and even take it regionally.”  

Ian Pugh, Managing Director for Fix Auto UK, said: “Every business owner or senior manager owes it to their team to have a qualified mental health first aider on hand. While Carl has followed the strict guides laid down by Mental Health first Aid England, as this is so new to the industry, we have literally been finding our way in which we feel the course benefits our industry. I’m delighted to say that, with three courses now successfully run, we’re able to build upon those successes and focus on rolling the scheme out to the entire network. 

“Our Franchise Partners who have taken part have been unanimously enthusiastic in their support for our initiative which is heartening.”