Mental Health Motorbike
MENTAL HEALTH MOTORBIKE
Over lockdown, a good friend of mine completed suicide. I found myself experiencing many emotions with his death, but an overriding feeling was frustration that he felt this was his only option and frustration that I didn't see any signs or couldn't help him. As I follow many motorcycle accounts on social media, I am sure many of you will, too; I kept seeing Mental Health Motorbike popping up on my feed. It piqued my interest, and I started to follow it. I then read about their courses and decided that I wanted to do something productive to help others understand what had happened. I will go more into the course, but first off, I interviewed with the founder of Mental Health Motorbike, Paul Oxo, as well as Andy Elwood, who ran the course that I took:
The Mental Health First Aider Course
The course was online and held as a group session over Zoom. It was held for two nights of the week for two weeks, with two hours each session. The course is very emotive and based around a very sensitive and complicated subject; because of this, the Zoom sessions were launched early and closed late should anyone need/want any additional support or information/chats. We were also welcome to contact the course teachers at any time for extra support. The eight hours overall was just the online part of the course. Additional reading is required outside of those hours, as well as some online "homework".
The content of the course was extremely useful, with many thought-provoking elements. It gives you tools to help in certain situations and many resources to read up on or pass on to people in need. The environment was extremely open, friendly and "safe" - it was non-judgemental and a great learning environment. The group Zoom sessions gave us insights into other course attendees' lived experiences to understand different ways of thinking about issues. We also participated in practical exercises in smaller and larger groups for added experience in dealing with various topics and watching videos, taking part in quizzes after reading sessions, and completing a workbook.
I am being careful not to give too much information here, not because it's secret or frowned upon, but because I would never want to give any misinformation on a subject that is so serious! However, I will say that my understanding of mental health issues has most definitely improved. I believe that I would be a hell of a lot more useful since completing the course than before; in fact, I have already used some practical tips and will most definitely sign up for more classes through Mental Health Motorbike. I have also applied to volunteer. J&S Accessories Ltd in our 30 stores nationwide want to raise as much awareness for this fantastic charity as possible. If only one life is saved, then it is worth it.
FOLLOW
You can go to www.mentalhealthmotorbike.org.uk to find out more and to sign up.
You can follow them on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram .
Plus, you can show support if you see them at an event. Please, please, please take a look. I cannot recommend them enough. If you are feeling down, or know someone who is, take a look and either reach out for help or sign up to help. You will not regret it.
Until next time, stay safe,
Alex