Training on health and wellbeing

Who these courses are for

Some courses are free for anyone who works, volunteers, studies, or lives in Islington. Others are only for Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations or frontline staff at Islington Council. 

Mental health is everyone’s business. That’s why our mental health and suicide prevention training courses are for Islington council staff and local VCSE organisations who don't already work in mental health.

There are some mental health awareness courses specifically for council colleagues only. Council colleagues can access these through MyLearning.

• Mental Health First Aid (adults): VCSE organisations working directly with Islington residents only.
• Mental Health First Aid (youth): VCSE organisations working directly with Islington residents only.
• Real talk (half-day suicide prevention awareness): Frontline Islington Council staff or local VCSE organisations working directly with Islington residents.
• Caring connections (one day suicide prevention training): Frontline Islington Council staff or local VCSE organisations working directly with Islington residents.
• Bitesize mental health awareness webinars: Islington Council staff or local VCSE organisation
• Suicide let’s talk: Any staff or volunteers who have contact with residents.
• Bereavement awareness: Any staff or volunteers who have contact with residents.
• Making Every Contact Count: Anyone who talks to people about issues affecting their health and wellbeing.
• Stop smoking awareness (level 1): Frontline Islington Council staff or local VCSE organisations working directly with Islington residents.
• Substance misuse training: Frontline Islington Council staff or local VCSE organisations working directly with Islington residents.
• Sexual health training: Frontline Islington Council staff or local VCSE organisations working directly with young people in Islington.

How to book training

You can find out more and book your place on any of these courses below.

Places can fill up quickly. However, new dates are published regularly throughout the year. If the courses are booked up and you would like to be put on a waiting list, please contact publichealth@islington.gov.uk.

Once you have booked on to a course, please make sure you attend. Not attending wastes funding and takes away a space from someone else.

If you work for Islington Council please visit MyLearning where you can access mental health awareness courses separately.

Training courses

Mental health first aid (youth or adult)

This two-day course is free to individuals working or volunteering for local VCSE organisations who work directly with Islington residents. It will teach you practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues, and gain confidence to step in, reassure and support a person in distress. On completion you will be a certified Mental Health First Aider.

Duration: two days, with self-learning activities in between.

At the end of the course attendees will be able to:

• Recognise those that may be experiencing poor mental health and provide them with first-level support and early intervention.
• Encourage a person to identify and access sources of professional help and other support.
• Practise active listening and empathy.
• Have a conversation with improved mental health literacy around language and stigma.
• Discuss the MHFAider® role in depth, including boundaries and confidentiality.
• Practise self-care.
• Know how to use the MHFAider Support App®
• Know how to access a dedicated text service provided by Shout and ongoing learning opportunities with MHFA England.

See upcoming dates and book Mental Health First Aid training.

Real Talk (half-day suicide prevention training)

Real Talk is delivered by Grassroots and equips learners with the necessary skills to recognise and support those at risk of suicide. The course is aimed at frontline Islington Council staff and staff working/volunteering for local VCSE organisations. Expert trainers provide essential frameworks for life-saving conversations and facilitate practice to empower non-judgmental conversations about mental health and suicide.

Duration: 3.5 hours

At the end of this course attendees will be able to:

• Recall the suicide statistics and reflect on their relevance to the community.
• Describe potential risk factors and signs that someone might be having suicidal thoughts.
• Identify the barriers that might prevent any of us from talking openly about suicide.
• Outline appropriate questioning techniques to facilitate a conversation with a person at risk.
• Demonstrate a supportive conversation with someone who is having suicidal thoughts, including via the written word.
• Determine appropriate levels of support – emergency services or support organisations, apps, etc.
• Use a safety planning tool and list further sources of help or support with a scenario.
• Select appropriate strategies for promoting own wellbeing.
• Access support resources

See upcoming dates and book Real Talk training.

Caring Connections (suicide prevention awareness)

Caring Connections is delivered by Grassroots and is aimed at frontline Islington Council staff and staff working/volunteering for local VCSE organisations. The course equips participants with the knowledge and skills to effectively address suicide prevention within a trauma-informed framework. Through interactive activities, case studies, and practical exercises, participants will gain the tools needed to identify, assess, and support individuals at risk of suicide, while also fostering their resilience in the face of challenging circumstances.

Duration: 8 hours

At the end of this course attendees will be able to:

• Understand factors which increase an individual’s risk of suicide and identify potential warning signs that someone might have thoughts of suicide.
• Discuss the principles of and possible steps in assessment when working with someone at risk.
• Practise engaging someone in conversations about suicide using a framework.
• Determine appropriate levels of support (emergency services or support organisations and apps) and deploy appropriate technology such as the Stay Alive app in supporting people at risk of suicide.
• Collaborate with a person at risk to develop a safety plan.
• Discuss and construct ways of increasing their own resilience.

See upcoming dates and book Caring Connections training.

Bitesize mental health webinars

Grassroots deliver hour-long 'bitesize' webinar courses consisting of a range of topics which cover emerging themes in mental health. For example, sessions could include 'managing stress' or 'self-care when supporting others'.

The webinars will be recorded and made available for free access.

Suicide: Let’s Talk

This free online training shows how you can help people who might be thinking about suicide by bringing up the subject and offering support. The course is accessible without any kind of registration or login.

Duration: two courses available

• Complete the 20-minute Let's Talk course.
• Complete the 5–10-minute Let's Talk course.

Bereavement awareness

Islington and Camden Councils' bereavement awareness training in delivered in webinars by Cruse Bereavement Care. It aims to give participants the confidence to talk to people who are bereaved in a simple, empathic way, to be able to find the right words, and to give simple signposting where needed. The training is for front-line workers or anyone who would have with bereaved individuals.

The participants can either be living, working, or volunteering in Islington or Camden, within the statutory, voluntary and community sectors.

Duration: 75-minute webinars

Upcoming dates and book your bereavement awareness training.

Making Every Contact Count

Making Every Contact Count (MECC), delivered by Social Marketing Gateway, equips participants with the tools to spot an opportunity in conversations with residents and the confidence to deliver brief advice and help local people improve their wellbeing.

Good Conversations

The 'Good Conversations' skills training supports frontline workers to Make Every Contact Count (MECC). It is a highly interactive online course, which aims to build confidence, knowledge and skills required for good conversations in these very challenging times. With its strong emphasis on core communication skills, the course also provides excellent foundation-level training for staff who plan to engage in more specialist training in areas such as mental health first aid, domestic violence and motivational interviewing. The course includes an introduction to using online resources to support good conversations and signpost residents to further help.

Duration: 2 hours

Basics of motivational interviewing

The 'Basics of Motivational Interviewing' training offers a more advanced training, suitable for those who are able to talk to residents for 10-15 minutes about changes they can make in their lives. The training provides the knowledge and confidence to support participants in making healthy and positive life changes.

Duration: 3 hours

Book MECC training

See upcoming dates and book MECC training.

Stop smoking awareness (level 1)

This is a live online course for small groups, delivered by Breathe stop smoking service. The course will help you raise the topic of smoking confidently and positively, understand and explain what Breathe stop smoking service can offer, and make a referral. The course will improve your knowledge of tobacco addiction, the impact of smoking on health, the benefits of stopping smoking and what works to help smokers quit, including behavioural support and medications.

Duration: 1.5 hours

To arrange a course date for your team, or find available dates, contact info@breathestopsmoking.org.

Substance misuse training

This training is provided by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust (Substance Misuse Division). If people are interested in substance misuse training, they can contact the public health commissioning team at publichealth@islington.gov.uk. The team will then then liaise with the relevant service about offering training.

Sexual health training

The sexual health charity Brook provides free professional training on a range of topics, to anyone who works with children and young people in Islington.

Find more information and book on to an open access sexual health course.

If you would like bespoke training for your organisation or team, contact cish@brook.org.uk