Rural Connections
The project 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 project.
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 members of staff.
Who is eligible?
The rural connection could be 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 14th November 2023
The training will take four hours and will be run from 9am to 1pm.
To register your interest in the upcoming session contact our Training team.
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 4-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 you own mental health and wellbeing.
“I think the most beneficial part of the course was learning how to approach conversations, what to say, not to say, this boosted my confidence with how to deal with possible situations.”
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.