In a first for the Scottish hotel Industry, Apex Hotels has partnered with MHScot Workplace Wellbeing C.I.C to deliver Scottish Mental Health First Aid courses throughout 2018 for members of the public.
The collaboration between Apex Hotels, who will provide training facilities at its Apex City of Edinburgh Hotel and MHScot, who will deliver the courses through specially trained instructors, came into being due to the hotel group’s constant strive to provide pioneering training and support to its employees.
The open courses explore the meaning of mental health and provide attendees with the skills to speak confidently to both colleagues and friends who are experiencing poor mental health, and provide information on where to find help and support within the community.
Apex Hotels HR Officer, Jennifer Matheson, was the first of the hotel group’s employees to take part in the two day course in September 2017, and immediately saw the benefits it would bring to both Apex Hotels and the hotel industry in general, by tackling stereotypes and stigma that can come with low mental health within the workplace,
The first two-day course took place on the 17th and 24th of January and was attended by 15 professionals from industries including, Dentons, Scottish Widows, The Salvesen Mindroom Centre, The Spartans Football Club and The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals along with a number of key Apex employees keen to learn skills needed to spot and support employees struggling with poor mental health.
Jennifer Matheson, Apex Hotels HR Officer, said: “At Apex, we continually strive to provide the best support and guidance for our employees. With mental health discussed more within the media and the increasing understanding of its impact and importance, we felt that creating a partnership with MHScot would provide our staff with the skills to deal confidently and correctly with any issues that our team members may face.”
Catherine Eadie, Director of MHScot, said: “Working together with Apex Hotels benefits both organisations, as well as course participants from the wider community. Being able to run courses here at the Apex City of Edinburgh Hotel ensures that participants from far and wide not only have easy transport access to the course but can enjoy the excellent meeting facilities, whilst learning important new skills.”
Those who take part and complete the full two-day course will be certified Mental Health First Aiders and will benefit from the confidence to speak to individuals struggling to deal with a variety of mental health issues.
There are six more courses available throughout the year including March, May, September October November and December with a number of places open to the general public.