Mental Health Volunteer Training Coordinator

Mind in Harrow

Head for Work Project

Background Paper

March 2017 - 2020

About Mind in Harrow

Mind in Harrow is a dynamic and creative independent local mental health charity affiliated to national Mind, with a strong user empowerment ethos. We currently employ a team of 30 full and part-time staff and over 100 volunteers supporting 2,500 users per annum. We have a mix of funding sources totalling £0.8M: NHS, local authority grants and contracts, personal budget purchases, grants from Lottery and charitable trusts, charity shop and community fundraising. We have achieved the top level 3 award for the Mind Quality Mark, our national quality assurance audit. Mind in Harrow offices are located close to the Metropolitan line Harrow-on-the-Hill tube station.

Our values

Mind in Harrow wants to make a long-term lasting difference throughhope.

holistic: We see the whole person, not just their symptoms.
outreach: We innovate at the grassroots of our diverse local community.
people:We create change together with people, not for them.
expertise: We are a local charity with national mental health expertise.

The current management style is collaborative and consultative, with a strong emphasis on high quality service delivery and reflective practice, supported by regular supervision for all staff. We offer all staff flexible working, an individual training budget and occupational pension scheme.

Head for Project 2006- present day

The Head for Work project has been funded by the Big Lottery from 2006 to 2017 through two grants.

In August 2016an independent evaluation was carried out by Economic Change to review the project in the final two years (2015-2016). The evaluation report clearly highlighted the sucesses and learning of the project during this period. The report is included in the recruitment pack for this post.

Based on the evaluation outcomes, Mind in Harrow re-applied to the Big Lottery Fund and Head for Work was successfully awarded funding for a further three years (2017-20). Head for Work’s main aim remains unchanged, to increase access to accredited training and employment opportunities for long-term unemployed Harrow residents experiencing severe and enduring mental health problems whilst simultaneously tackling workplace mental health stigma. However, the next phase of Head for Work project will introduce developments:-

Greater emphasis on personal development opportunities for service users as Trainers
Increased use of digital learning
More focus on identifying our reach to employees with mental health needs through workforce training

We will also be developing more commercial-orientated approach to training delivery at Mind in Harrow including pricing at market rates, which will be separate but complementary to Head for Work.

Head for Work 2014-2017targets

The project will be divided into three key areas, which are 1) LEARN, 2) TRAIN and 3) ADVANCE. Within this context the project will be working on four key outcomes over the three year period. Some of the key outcomes expected to have been achieved by the final year of the project are listed below.

1) LEARN is an accredited beneficiary training programme

2) TRAIN is training workshops provided to employers

3) ADVANCE is regular advice/guidance for beneficiaries who are accredited Trainers to progress both in their mental health recovery and towards vocational goals.

The outcomes agreed with the Big Lottery Fund for the three year funded period are:

Outcome 1 / 80 (of 94 engaged) adults experiencing severe and enduring mental health problems will have improved life skills through Head for Work’s training and development programme
Outcome 2 / 50 (of 55 engaged) adults experiencing severe and enduring mental health problems will have increased employability skills and opportunities through Head for Work’s training and development programme
Outcome 3 / 55 (of 80 engaged) adults experiencing severe and enduring mental health problems will have improved well-being and social inclusion through Head for Work’s training and development programme
Outcome 4 / 225 (of 1,000 trained) vulnerable employees experiencing mental health problems have increased confidence to seek support in their place of work

Head for Work Coordinator Role

The full-time post holder will have operational responsibility for the Head for Work project, which will include

line-managing0.6 WTEHead for Work Officer

developing new bespoke training for external providers and managing the accredited trainers to deliver mental health awareness training to organisations (TRAIN)
project evaluation and developing strategic partnerships.

Head for Work Officer postwill be responsible for recruiting and training mental health service users to become accredited trainers (LEARN). Once accredited, they will offer regular advice/guidance to Trainers to progress both in their mental health recovery and towards vocational goals (ADVANCE).

Recent Successes

Some recent achievements of Mind in Harrow include:

We are cited along with our Head for Work Project as a best practice case example in an ACAS report 2016 ‘Management of Mental Health at Work’:

We are leading a partnership consortium of 5 local charities to offer a new Support & Wellbeing Information Service for Harrow (SWiSH) to help over 20,000 residents, commissioned by Harrow Council.
We are cited as a best practice case study in Dept of Health guidance for NHS commissioners about improving access for migrant communities to mental health services.
Mind in Harrow was selected by Kensington Palace via national Mind for a visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to celebrate World Mental Health Dayon 10 October 2015, because of our work with young people to promote mental wellbeing. Pictures of the visit below.