Mini First Aid South East London & Dartford

17/01/2026

Wow what a start to 2026 … And it’s only week two(!)

Grateful to the local schools for having me visit every year to train your YR5s.
Plus for booking your teaching staff on qualified courses with me.

And to the wonderful families that want to know how to keep their children safe in an emergency.

I’m thankful you keep choosing Mini First Aid SE London as your provider 💚 The numbers say it all. Long may this continue throughout the year ahead 💚

05/01/2026

This month, the Government launched a chickenpox vaccination programme in the United Kingdom, which aims to protect around half a million children each year

GP practices will offer eligible children a combined vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) - the clinical term for chickenpox - as part of the routine infant vaccination schedule.

According to Government research, chickenpox in childhood results in an estimated £24 million in parental lost income and productivity every year in the UK, so it’s hoped that the vaccine will mean children miss fewer days in nursery and school, so parents will not need to take time off work to care for them.

Lots more information on the vaccine can be found at the link in the comments. Please see your GP to check if your child is eligible and to discuss any concerns you may have.

31/12/2025

Before we say goodbye to 2025…let’s look what we achieved together.

💚 In 2025, we trained over 30,000 parents and carers, 8,000 workplace delegates and a whopping 52,000 school children in life-saving first aid.

💚 We celebrated our 10-year business birthday at an emotional conference with birthday wishes from Giovanna Fletcher, The Unmumsy Mum and Sara Davies.

💚 Our founder Kate joined a Coppafeel trek in the Brecon Beacons in memory of her lovely friend Lisa. A huge physical and emotional challenge. Kate raised over £7,000 for the breast cancer charity.

💚 We attended the Baby & Toddler Shows across the UK, providing first aid demos and expert talks to tens of thousands of new and expectant parents.

💚 We won top awards at the BFA, Best Businesswoman, and Mother & Baby Awards and entered Elite Franchising’s Top 100

💚 In the space of a few weeks, we trained our entire network and adapted our lesson plans to reflect new CPR and choking technique guidelines introduced by the Resuscitation Council UK.

💚 Our team appeared on local radio stations across the UK this year, talking about all things first aid for babies and children and our lovely Kate collaborated with the incredible Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast.

💚 Teddy instant cold pack arrived on the shelves!

💚 We joined the awesome female-founder network, Buy Women Built - so inspiring to see what women are creating, building and doing in the business and retail world and a real honour to be part of it.

💚 Our podcast surpassed 17,000 digital downloads - blown away!

💚 Most importantly of all - none of this would be possible without the work of our network across the UK and YOU! Our amazing audience and customers who chose this year to train with us, or follow us on socials, or chat to friends and family about the work that we do. Nothing is more important than spreading the word about learning how to save a life and you have helped us do this in so many ways in 2025.

Thank you 💚

14/12/2025

⚠️ Trigger Warning ⚠️ This is the awful reality of sepsis. Please learn the symptoms and be aware. William’s mother, Melissa Mead MBE, joined us on the Family Health Podcast to talk about losing her little boy and the work she now does as an ambassador with The Sepsis Trust. Please listen. It could help you advocate for your child https://www.buzzsprout.com/2184565/episodes/13929781

12/12/2025

Pregnancy checklist

💊Folic acid
🤰🏼Comfy maternity clothes
👨🏻‍🍼Babygros
🛏️ Baby bed and blankets
❣️Learn BABY FIRST AID

We know that when you are expecting a baby, keeping them safe and healthy becomes your top priority. We know that our baby & child first aid class helps you to do this and is a brilliant thing to do to prepare for the arrival of your precious bundle.

And now we have confirmation that our baby & child first aid class is officially a Gold Award-winning Pregnancy Product!

When you’re checking off your list of essential things to do to prepare for your baby’s arrival, make sure that learning how to treat them if they have an accident, or how to spot the signs of potentially fatal illnesses, is at the top of your list.

It could just be the most important pregnancy product you buy.

Find a class near you on our website. Go to the classes tab, pop your postcode into the search bar and find your local venues.

❤️

26/11/2025

We’re up to date with the new Resuscitation Council UK guidelines

The Resuscitation Council UK has released updates to paediatric and infant life-support guidance, and we want you to know that Mini First Aid is already on it. We’re rolling out team training and updating our lesson plans to make sure everything we teach reflects the very latest evidence.

If you’ve trained with us before or gained a workplace qualification with us, don’t worry, the qualification remains valid, and the skills you learned are still safe and effective. First aid evolves as new research emerges, and these updates simply offer techniques that may help rescuers deliver even better-quality care.

Here are some of the key changes:

Baby CPR: The preferred method for infants under 1 is now a two-thumb encircling technique. This can help you achieve consistent, effective chest compression depth with less finger fatigue. Other methods (one-hand or two-hand) can still be used if age-appropriate and needed.

Choking in infants: Still start with 5 back blows. If that doesn’t work, follow with 5 chest compressions using the encircling technique, which replaces the older two-finger approach.

Using an AED:
• Use paediatric mode for infants and children under 25 kg (approx. under age 8 ).
• If there’s no paediatric setting, use adult mode, don’t delay.
• Pad placement guidance has been refined for clarity and effectiveness.

These improvements aim to make life-saving actions even more effective across all ages.

We’ll keep you updated as we roll out these updates in our classes. As always, our mission is to make sure you feel confident, informed, and ready to help when it matters most.

This new technique will be in our classes soon, so if you would like to refresh or need to learn first aid, get in touch 💚

25/11/2025

This is a great project for anyone that can chip in and help the charity 💚

We’ve got some exciting news to share… Bexley Mencap has found a new home for our future Community Hub! 🎉

This new space will help us support even more local people with a learning disability and/or autism, as well as their families and carers. It will give us more room for activities, advice, drop-ins, social groups and so much more.

But… we need your help. ❤️

The building needs a lot of work before we can open early next year, and we’re looking for an army of amazing local tradespeople who might be able to donate a little time or skill.
We’re especially looking for:
🛠️ Plasterers
🧱 Builders
🎨 Decorators
🔧 …and anyone with practical skills who can lend a hand

If you can spare a few hours, a day, or more, you’ll be helping us create a space that will make a real difference to people in our community.

📩 To volunteer your time, please contact us:
zahra@bexleymencap.org.uk

If you can’t volunteer, you can still support the build by donating here: www.bexleymencap.org.uk/community-hub

Thank you so much to everyone who has already offered help. Together, we can build something truly special for Bexley.

10/11/2025

Are your child’s Christmas gifts dangerous?

Mums and dads, you are probably already starting to think about, or pick up, Christmas presents and stocking fillers for your child, so this is your friendly reminder to think about potential choking and other hazards that may be present in your child’s presents!

🎁 Button batteries - these little silver disc batteries are found in lots of toys and other gadgets around your house and are highly toxic. If swallowed, they can corrode your child’s throat or stomach.

🎁 Lego and other small building bricks - these are not only painful to step on, but some pieces are small enough for a baby or child to swallow, and sharp edges make them easy to get stuck in a child’s windpipe.

🎁 Magnet toys - these popular toys are small and easy to swallow. They can travel to the stomach and gather together, tearing internal tissue.

🎁 Balloons - balloons and other latex items are a choking hazard if swallowed or inhaled, which can happen easily if your child is blowing a balloon or playing with burst leftover material.

🎁 Buttons & detachable parts - toys or dolls with small parts like button eyes and wheels can be dangerous as items like this can fall off or be pulled off and swallowed.

🎁 Marbles - in the same way that grapes and round foods are a hazard, so are marbles that can easily lodge in your child’s airway.

This list is by no means exhaustive. We don’t want to be the toy/fun police, but please take a few minutes when choosing toys or gifts for your child to think about potential risks and don’t leave your child to play with a new toy on their own - check it out yourself before you hand it to your child to play with.