Business News Education & Events Industry People

Music industry organisations partner with Music Support to offer mental health training

By | Published on Friday 8 November 2019

Music Support

Ten UK-based music industry and live event organisations have partnered with the charity Music Support to offer discounted places on the Mental Health First Aid programme, a training course designed to help people recognise the signs of mental illness and addiction so that they can support those who are affected by them.

The companies and organisations involved are Help Musicians UK, the BRIT Trust, the Association Of Independent Festivals, The Event Safety Shop, the Professional Lighting And Sound Association, Production Park, Backstage Academy, the Production Services Association’s Stage Hand Fund and the Thrive mental well-being app. The partnership will see Music Support facilitate training provided by the UK’s only licensed provider of the course MHFA England.

“MHFA training is becoming a priority for businesses across many industries and sectors, both nationally and internationally”, says Music Support MD Eric Mtungwazi. “We’ve received a lot of support and encouragement from partners about the prospect of Music Support delivering MHFA”.

“MHFA England is currently campaigning for the government to put mental and physical health on an even footing”, he continues. “This is gaining traction from politicians and is likely to become an area of statutory responsibility for employers in the future. Now is time for our industry to get in ahead of the curve. We’d like this initiative to be an industry-wide adoption of good practice which will improve mental health literacy and the industry’s capacity to prevent and respond”.

AIF CEO Paul Reed adds: “Part of AIF’s remit is to provide its members with the resources and expertise they need to improve and maintain the safety and wellbeing of both staff and customers at their events. Mental health is obviously a vital part of that, and we’re pleased to be partnering with Music Support, alongside a number of other great music industry organisations, to give AIF promoters access to great training in this area”.

Those who complete Music Support’s Adult MHFA two-day course will become a qualified Mental Health First Aider, accredited by MFHA England.



READ MORE ABOUT: