Mental Health First Aid

All the trainers delivering MHFA on behalf of HARP and The Roby have undergone the MHFA England 7-day instructor course that is accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health. They receive support from mentors within the National Training Team and will attend regular MHFA networking events to remain up to date with new developments.

Training Team Biographies

Fran Gammon: Fran has worked for HARP in a number of roles since 1999. With experience of delivering advice and advocacy she has witnessed how people are discriminated against even when trying to access their legal rights and entitlements.  She is currently working as a Service User Involvement Worker – which aims to improve involvement of people who have used HARP Services in the development of the organisation.  She has been delivering training to enable people using HARP services to Chair Meetings, take part in interviews, to feel more confident and supporting them to develop new projects such as an arts project and a drama project.  Fran trained as a trainer when she was working in the civil service to enable her to deliver training around benefits.  Fran recently completed a Facilitation Training Course and she completed the instructor training for MHFA in July 2009.

Ben Crouch: Ben is the Director of The Roby, a mental health and well-being charity providing a free counselling service, practical and emotional support and safe spaces and activities for people living in Longsight and the surrounding area.  Ben currently works with people affected by a range of mental health issues and uses this experience to inform debates and discussion when delivering Mental Health First Aid.  Ben is an experienced trainer and facilitator and has completed workforce and development training programmes on Performance Management and Personal Development for a large international charity, and delivered a variety of training courses to staff working in Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Third Sector Organisations (TSOs). Ben qualified as an MHFA instructor in July 2009.

Rowena Pyott: Rowena works for HARP developing a partnership that aims to improve mental health by raising awareness of healthy eating and physical activity – this is done by developing community cafes and allotment projects.  It involves developing a partnership between voluntary and statutory sector and improving the opportunities available for people with mental health issues to take part.  Prior to this work Rowena worked at various Citizens Advice Bureaux and at a homeless hostel. 

In her previous rolls she designed and delivered training courses for volunteers and paid staff within Citizens Advice and for this work she completed a training for trainers course in 2000.  Rowena also recently completed a Facilitation Course and completed the Mental Health First Aid Course in July 2009.

Shirley-Ann Fyfe: Shirley-Ann has a degree in English, and is a qualified teacher and is currently studying for a Masters in English.  She has 2.5 years teaching experience  - teaching full-time in a classroom and private tuition.  She has worked for HARP for the past 18 months as a supervisor in the HARP Cafe, offering support, supervision, coaching to people volunteering in the Cafe.  The aim of this work is to support people to engage in services/employment /study and life. Shirley has personal experiences of mental health issues. She has received successful counselling and CBT and now leads a full and well life. This experience will bring a different perspective to the delivery of mental health first aid. Shirley-Ann completed her MHFA instructor training in July.

Debbie Grue: Debbie works for YASP, a HARP project working with young people aged 15-25 with or at risk of developing poor mental health.  Within this role she provides advice and advocacy to young people to ensure they are able to access their rights and entitlements.  She has also worked for Assertive Outreach and within the current role works closely with the Manchester Early Intervention Into Psychosis Service.  Prior to working for YASP, Debbie has worked for a number of organisations including Manchester Housing Department and Creative Support and all working with people who had or were vulnerable to poor mental health due to their circumstances which often entailed homelessness, family breakdown and poverty. Debbie brings this wealth of working experience to her delivery of mental health first aid.  Debbie completed her mental health first aid instructor training in July 2009.

Megan Ohri: Megan works part time for a consultancy company called OSDC Ltd (Organisation and Social Development Consultants). OSDC specialises in the field of equality and diversity. They deliver training and consultancy to a range of public, private and voluntary sector organisations.  They have more than 20 years experience of delivering training in this field.  Megan joined the company in September 2009. Megan's background is in community development work, prior to joining OSDC she worked as a development worker for a partnership of voluntary sector mental health services.  Through this she gained knowledge of a range of mental health conditions and the different approaches and interventions used to support people experiencing them.

In her role as a development worker over the last 5 years Megan has developed and delivered a number of training courses ranging from: measuring outcomes, equal opportunities, every child matters, youth work skills for volunteers and full cost recovery. She has a City and Guilds in teaching adult learners and recently completed a two day facilitators development course. She has experience of working with a range of professionals, volunteers and service users from private, public and voluntary sector agencies. Megan completed her MHFA instructor training in December 2009.

Elizabeth Simpson: Elizabeth is the Service Manager for HARP a mental health charity based in Manchester.  She has significant experience working with people with mental health issues both directly and in management and development roles. She has worked for HARP for almost 5 years, firstly managing YASP, a young peoples advice and support project and for the last 18 months being responsible for the operational management of 5 HARP projects.  Prior to this Elizabeth worked in a local authority delivering welfare rights advice to people with mental health issues and then developing these services in order to meet people's needs. She has worked closely with mental health services to ensure that the outcomes identified by people were met.  This work also entailed designing and running training courses for housing workers, social workers, CPN''s on social security law.  She has recently completed a 2 day facilitation training course. Elizabeth is able to bring this experience of hearing peoples stories of how poor mental health has affected their lives and how stigma and discrimination is a significant barrier that prevents them accessing work, services and their rights. Elizabeth completed her MHFA instructor training in December 2009.

Graham Hays: Graham is a freelance trainer. He has been delivering training for a number of years and has volunteered and worked for several mental health organisations including Manchester Advocacy Services and Having a Voice.  Graham has delivered training for Having a Voice around the Concepts of Recovery and has facilitated Recovery Workshops for service users and medics and at Manchester and Salford University.  Graham has used mental health services since being a teenager and has experienced different forms of treatment including being sectioned under the mental health act. This first hand experience of mental health services combined with his commitment to recovery ensure that there is an added dimension to the training. Graham also completed his MHFA instructor training in July 2009.