Client Feedback

Two Day

"The course leader was very approachable and understanding. He explained everything well and was very inclusive and knowledgeable."

"Matthew is a credit to your training team. He is a kind, compassionate trainer who role models the principles of Mental Health 1st aid. He delivered the training via a variety of means to ensure learning needs of all were met. Superb training."

"Absolutely brilliant, thoroughly enjoyed it and found it very informative. Looking forward to applying to practise."

"A very good training course which was interactive and presented well. Mathew has very good facilitating skills and lots of experience. Very enjoyable course."

"The pace was perfect. Not too slow or too paced but seemed fair for everybody’s learning pace. It was great to hear factual references and visual films".

"Matthew was extremely understanding of my personal anxiety and helped me through the course."

"Matthew made difficult topics easy to discuss. With his calm nature he was approachable and understanding giving everyone time to express opinion and personal experience."

"Matthew is incredibly knowledgeable on the subject and could give many examples to help with learning. Also very considerate of who is in the room and the experiences they may have."

"It was a brilliant course - very insightful and well delivered.I'm pretty sure I could do the job of a full time 1st aid mental health in my school - but still have to fit my other job in there somewhere!"

"Day two was much more effective and better paced. It was really useful to have access to a range of resources and signposted organisations. This will be invaluable. Matthew was lovely and very calm and thorough".

"This course was well structured and presented with a good mix of verbal and visual learning, and interactive/discussion time".

"Matthew was extremely polite and mindful of the sensitivity of the subject. His work experience of supporting patients and staff with mental health issues was evident and certainly supported his high level of knowledge and training provided".

"I would like to start by saying a big thank you to Matt for delivering a fantastic course. I feel my knowledge has been expanded along with my communication skills, the course was delivered in a very friendly professional manner, and there were plenty of opportunities to ask questions and talk about real life situations, which all made for an enjoyable and a very informative course.The course was delivered with a great presentation and 10 out of 10 for training facilitator". :)

"The format of this course is really comfortable and is a lovely open forum to discuss any thoughts and questions you have. Matt is also very knowledgeable and friendly enabling us to be completely open and honest."

"Matthew was fantastic at explaining everything and very supportive throughout the training."

"Matt is a very good facilitator, he made sure everyone was included and supported the group to develop a good rapport. The course content is extremely informative and useful, Matt explained all topics well."

"I have wanted to become a Mental Health First Aider for a couple of years, and when I got the opportunity to take part in this, I was excited about commencing the training. The training has exceeded what I thought the training may have involved and know that the training has improved my knowledge and confidence to be able to support others. The resources provided will be of a huge help in being able to provide information to those who will benefit from the additional support that I can now offer to them.The instructor Matthew Vickers who delivered the training was welcoming and engaging, providing a safe environment for us as a group to have open discussions, Matthew and the group were very supportive of each other. I really enjoyed the training and have been talking with my colleagues about the course and recommending that they may like to enrol on the next available date."

"Great course, great instructor. Course was structure well to allow for short breaks throughout the day when needed."

"Excellent course. Matt is brilliant teacher".

"Despite my experience in mental health i find myself learning, going forwards considering the language used in that conversation was probably the take home point for me and secondly while nothing about the course reinvented the wheel but gave a very simple format (ALGEE).Great location and resources."

"As a Mental Health nurse, I found the course useful but there was nothing new to me except the resources available to me through the different agencies i am now aware of and of course the mental health first aider app."

"I found this course very enlightening and was delivered in a fantastic manner. The manual is very comprehensive and is a great resource to back up the content of the course. Lots of information was provided with videos to highlight and enhance the learning."

"Matthew was extremely knowledgeable. He made a tough subject 'enjoyable' and gave us lots of opportunities to talk about our own experiences."

"Made the whole course as light and interactive as possible with great insight."

"Excellent experience would 100% recommend. I learnt a lot from the course that I can take with me and put to use in my future practice as a midwife. I think I will feel a lot more confident when dealing with ill mental health because I have gained more knowledge and understanding around the topic."

"A brilliant course . I really enjoyed it . I have a much better knowledge of all things to do with mental health . Matthew delivered the course so well."

"Excellent course, cover a lot of information over the two days. Lots of opportunity for discussion. Matthew was brilliant with his knowledge and experiences that he shared. Day one seemed quite heavy with its subject content but I feel much more confident to be able to talk and support people to help them find the support they need. Day two was just as good and I feel much I want to raise awareness and promote mental health and well being within my school. I hope to be able to start to eliminate stigma within the setting. Matthew made everyone feel comfortable and everyone worked together on their tables with their ideas, supporting each other. It is hoped that a network will be formed so that we can support each other. A most enjoyable two days."

"Found the course really informative. Is great to be clearer on how best to spot the signs but more importantly how to approach the topic of mental health."

"I found the course really interesting and helpful. Matthew is an excellent instructor."

"Loved the mix of approaches- instruction/ group work/ real life videos. The repetition of ALGEE really helped and the final video showing the implementation of ALGEE was particularly helpful (best & worst practice) and helped my confidence rise."

"So nice to have someone train you who has firsthand knowledge with him being a mental health nurse. He was so easy to share experience with and was really engaging."

"Thank you for a very informative and inspiring two days."

"The course content and the instructor were both very good - lots of information and brilliant video content to support me in my learning. Having the chance to share/discuss and use the course handbook/workbook, which have been very beneficial to look back on and find the relevant areas that I may need to look at further."

"The discussions were extremely useful, as were working on the case studies and watching videos. Very informative course - thank you - and nice to have info to take away."

"Matthew was really good, approachable and knowledgeable. He covered the topics sensitively and made everyone feel welcome and safe to express their thoughts. After the course I feel more empowered to support my colleagues and friends as well as making sure I look after myself. Thanks."

"Matthew was very sensitive with the course material, and he took time to ensure everyone understood and was OK, especially when people shared personal accounts."

"Amazing and insightful course, everyone should take it. Matthew was an amazing instructor and answered all questions in depth."

"An excellent course. Brilliant pace and knowledge."

"The instructor was excellent he made us feel at ease and explained everything really well."

"Matthew is excellent, very calm and handled the difficult subjects with great ease.Venue and course content very good, the handbook is clear and comprehensive."

"Matthew is very experienced as a mental health nurse, and shares his knowledge and passion in best practice caring for people experiencing mental health difficulties. Course content is highly professional, great presentation slides, course workbook and take-away comprehensive reference manual with further reading. Great for people new to the area with little or no experience, or even as a refresher in good practice for experienced mental health professionals. Matt's facilitative trainer style makes the learning environment safe and supportive when talking about sometimes difficult situations and how best to deal with them. I will be recommending Matt to all my friends and family in all industries so they can help promote a more positive work culture. Will be attending the 3 Year Refresher Course. Keep up the good work."

"Matthew was great - so knowledgeable and approachable, I had called last minute to see if I could get on a course and was really impressed with the information given. I absolutely feel more confident to approach these conversations having been on this course."

"This course is fantastic. The insight of the trainer is vast, welcoming, knowledgeable and approachable. I recommend everyone to do this course just for life skills alone x thank you."

"The course has given me more insight and knowledge of mental health issues. It has given me confidence to approach people who is struggling with mental health issues and they don’t know how and who to approach. The course has made me aware what I can do to support them. I’m really happy I did that course. It will also help me in my job. Thank you."

"The course members were all given time to contribute to discussion. The trainer was professional and engaging and were able to answer questions well. The group even when sad personal experiences were shared were empathic and gave time for the sadness. I really enjoyed the training."

"This course has made me feel confident in speaking a lot more freely about the topic of mental health. It is imperative to highlight this as a regular subject to talk about especially that it has proven to have devastating results as a taboo subject with hidden illnesses which further manifests to severe consequences. Prevention is always better than cure and we all too often hear of stories where we’ve been ‘too late’. Something I have taken from the course that I didn’t expect was the reward of actually feeling better within myself too. I feel it was therapeutic and a revelation in my own reasons for understanding this topic and why EMPATHY is one of my greatest qualities! Now I get to wear my superhero cape to help others!"

"Wonderful to have Matthew approaching this with professional mental health experience and knowledge, shows in his person-centred, well-informed, objective understanding."

Refresher

"This was very enjoyable and a concise condensed version of the two-day course, delivered in a very engaging way by a very engaging instructor. Thank you Matthew :)"

"I really valued being able to undertake the refresher course. It has improved my confidence and understanding of mental health issues and re-affirmed the actions I would need to take to be able to help someone. As Jonny's video demonstrated, the power of conversation and having the confidence to act saved his life."

"A very informative and interesting refresher course. the course was well put across by Matthew and his knowledge as a trainer was excellent."

"Before the course I was fairly confident but 3 years after attending somethings become a bit vague so it's good to have this refresher. The interaction of the group was very good, and I believe we all contributed in our own ways. Very enjoyable and a valuable tool to have."

"Course content very good. Break out rooms and discussions very good.Course delivery very informal and welcoming."

"I really enjoyed the training and found it engaging and well facilitated.I am curious though about diversity and was conscious the People of Colour did not feature in the video's (Given the high representation in mental health services)."

"I was surprised how much I remembered from the original 2-day course but learnt a few gems from the course tutor and attendees. I think everyone should do this course as it can be applied in all areas of personal and professional life."

"It was just under a year since I did the full course so was a bit puzzled as to why I had been invited to do the refresher session so soon. However, I'm glad I did, because the session highlighted things that I had forgotten and regained my confidence in how to help individuals in crisis.I never like the breakout room bits- they are like pulling teeth and generally no one is forthcoming with sharing ideas. I prefer to discuss things in a bigger group so that you get different perspectives from a wider audience so found it awkward working in a small 3-person group. Matt was excellent and kept the session interesting and on topic- in the past I have found some attendees can dominate the session talking about their own MH, but Matt was great at making everyone feel involved and all comments valid.I do like TEAMS training as opposed to face to face but that's just my personal preference to cut down on travel time.It would have been nice to have the option of a morning session. I only work until 1.30pm (for personal health reasons) so had to extend my day to attend. It was manageable but would have been nice to have done it in my normal work hours. Thank you Matt for a great session. I have got my colleague signed up to the full course in November!"

"Really good course, Matthew did a great job despite a few technical problems! He kept the group focussed and facilitated some good conversations.With reference to the course, I think a refresher after 3 years is too long. I did my initial course last year but this refresher has really boosted my confidence."

"A very informative and interesting refresher course. the course was well put across by Matthew and his knowledge as a trainer was excellent."

"I really valued being able to undertake the refresher course. It has improved my confidence and understanding of mental health issues and re-affirmed the actions I would need to take to be able to help someone. As Jonny's video demonstrated, the power of conversation and having the confidence to act saved his life."