Working Well is a free programme that delivers health promotion advice and support services to small, medium and large workplaces in the private, public and voluntary sectors across Essex.

We will work with your organisation to promote and foster an environment of health and wellbeing. We will train your staff to become Workplace Health Champions who will deliver a range of healthy lifestyle programmes and activities.

We work in partnership with a wide range of local employers and business support agencies including: local Councils, Hospital Trusts, Community Health Providers, Walking for Health, the British Heart Foundation, Diabetes groups and MacMillan Cancer Care, Active Essex and Living Safe and Well Board.

MHFA is an internationally recognised training course, designed to teach people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis. In the same way as learning physical first aid, MHFA teaches people how to recognise those crucial warning signs of mental ill health and feel confident to guide someone to appropriate support. Embedding MHFA training within any organisation or community also encourages people to talk more freely about mental health, reducing stigma and creating a more positive culture.

To become a Mental Health First Aider you must complete a two-day MHFA course. 

The Working Well programme is proud to be able to provide Essex businesses the opportunity to receive Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training. This includes the following:

Working Well partnership offer:

• 2 day MHFA England Mental Health First Aid - £50pp
• 1 day MHFA England Managers/Champions training - £36pp
• ½ Day MHFA England Mental Health Awareness - £20pp

MHFA training only:

• £120pp (Normal RRP £400pp)
• £75pp (Normal RRP £300pp)
• £50pp (normal RRP £150pp)

The MHFA training can be a bespoke, in-house training or at a site based in Essex. Training courses are run every month. So far the Working Well team have trained more than 220 staff in Mental Health First Aid and Mental Health Awareness.

Working Well can also offer two bespoke, in-house stress workshops (both free of charge). These include the following:

• 4 hour Managers Stress Awareness
• 2 hour Staff Stress Awareness LITE

For more information please contact Essex.workingwell@nhs.net or call 0300 303 9988.

View the Mental Health First Aid leaflet for further information about the three courses.

View the Role of the Mental Health First Aider leaflet for further information about MHFA.

The service is available to any organisation who wants to take an active involvement to improve employees' health and wellbeing, and wants to make some real changes to improve morale, wellbeing and productivity.

Any organisation based in Essex can sign up to the Working Well programme (with the exception of Southend and Thurrock unitary controlled councils).

It takes just 5 simple steps:

1. Sign a Letter of Communication that sets out what each party will provide. This is normally for a minimum of 2 years.
2. Complete a Workplace Needs Assessment
3. Complete a confidential on-line staff survey, which identifies potential Workplace Health Champions and the types of programmes to set up
4. 2 day training, will be a mixture of classroom and on-line training:. Day 1: Introduction to Health Improvement, Behaviour Change and Making Every Contact Count. Day 2 (usually 1 week later) Workplace Health Champion Planning Day. At the end of the training your organisation will have a 12 month programme with 4 key themes/events. These typically include: physical activity, healthy eating, stress and stop smoking
5. Regular meetings/support and evaluations of the programme.

Useful Links

• British Heart Foundation - the British Heart Foundation have published an excellent set of infographics that can be used to present the statistics supporting the business case for health at work. View the infographics here.