Rural Connections
Insight into Mental Health
Rural Connections aims to support businesses to implement and strengthen workplace wellbeing policies and activities.
We’re working in partnership with Mental Health UK and Neptune Energy to deliver the Rural Connections.
Rural Connections aims to improve mental health and wellbeing throughout rural Scotland by providing fully funded introductory mental health awareness training to rural organisations and businesses with less than 50 employees.
Who is eligible?
Rural Connections could be delivered in your location or where your client groups and/or staff or volunteers live or work. Although the official definition of ‘rural’ is a settlement of less than 3000 people, we are keen to take a flexible and inclusive approach to delivering the training to ensure maximum reach into rural communities.
Next event
Tuesday 19th March 2025
The training will run from 1pm to 4.30pm.
To secure your spot in any of the upcoming sessions, including another session in March, purchase a ticket for Rural Connections.
A flourishing community
Training your business and community members in mental health can help break down stigma and discrimination, build awareness, develop skills and enhance confidence. With one in six workers experiencing mental health at any one time, the need for mental health awareness is huge.
Understanding the course
Rural Connections takes place over a 3.5-hour session online through video conferencing. You can join an ‘Open Course’ which compromise of participants from a range of organisations and are a good way to access training if you only have a few members of staff. The awareness sessions cover:
- What is mental health and mental illness
- An introduction to some common mental health conditions
- The benefits of managing stress
- A four-step process to building safe and supportive conversations
- How to look after your own mental health and wellbeing.
“Before the course, I hadn’t considered that mental health is not the absence of mental illness and is not separate from being healthy. It was useful to consider what wellbeing is, as well as to learn more about some common mental illnesses.
“It was emphasised that recovery is possible and likely, and that was a hopeful and positive thing to hear!”
Rural Connections training participant
contact
If you are interested in mental health training for rural organisations and want to know when the next Rural Connections mental health training will occur, please contact our Training team. They can give you more information and answer any questions you may have about online and face-to-face training.
Have you heard about the National Rural Mental Health Forum? The Forum comprises over 230 organisations from third, private and public sectors that form a robust and dedicated network. The Forum conducts regular seminars in partnership with guest speakers from within the network to discuss essential topics and issues around mental health and wellbeing in rural Scotland. To learn more about the upcoming seminars or to enquire about joining the network, reach out to the Forum.
Do you have any questions about the support Change Mental Health delivers across communities in Scotland? Contact our Advice and Support Service.
