Much work is being done by maritime charities to raise the awareness of just how difficult life at sea can be, both physical and emotionally for this sector of society and to convince shipping companies to really start thinking about the emotional wellbeing of all their staff across the UK and across the world.
To 2022, we are now 5 years into delivering safeguarding and Mental Health Awareness, Wellbeing and suicide prevention Training for the Maritime Sector.
This last year has seen us successfully gain a 5 year contract with the Ministry of Defence to deliver this training to their seafarers in addition to the 3 years already completed. The aim is to teach over 2000 seafarers in naval services during that time in Safeguarding and Mental Health Awareness.
With over 700 seafarers trained to date, We have also got a significant number of other maritime companies to deliver the training to in 2022 and 2023 and are very much looking forward to delivering these courses and supporting many more seafarers and support staff going forward.
Grounded in research from actual support given to seafarers and from delivering this training we can confidently say that for some seafarers this support has been life changing. In addition to this we also offer training in coping with bereavement and loss.
Suitable for Seafarers of all ranks, ratings, civilians, and maritime support service staff, with over 500 seafaring people trained to date. These bespoke courses include face to face on-site training, both in the classroom, at seafarer centres and on ships across the UK and abroad depending on the needs of the client.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic the One, Two or Three-day courses are also available to be delivered on a virtual platform. This has been in great demand due to the increase in stress and anxiety caused by the virus globally.
The courses are unique in the fact that we offer ongoing support and signposting to the delegates following training.
On these courses, delegates are able to book a free 30-minute support session with the facilitator or one of our life coaches to discuss any personal or professional issues impacting their mental health.
This one to one is both private and confidential (see Safeguarding Policy) and we are able to offer advice, coaching, mentoring, parenting support, or signposting to a relevant maritime or other support service.
Commissioners to our service who sign up for 12 months support receive a quarterly report which monitors the impact the course has on their attendees.
Our Mental Health Awareness course meets the requirements of, ‘A Standard for Seafarers Mental Health Awareness and Wellbeing Training’.
The standard launched in the summer of 2020 sets a benchmark for training in Mental Health Awareness for Seafarers and for seafaring companies looking to raise awareness.
The Standard is being published by MNTB and is available from maritime publishers Witherbys for a nominal £10 fee.
To buy a copy go to https://www.witherbyseamanship.com/a-standard-for-seafarers-mental-health-and-wellbeing-training-ebook.html