Balance MHFA

05/05/2021

Stress & Bilge Pumps
A simple way to think about and manage stress

You live in a boat your entire life

Sometimes the sea is calm – sometimes there are storms

Your boat is taking on water everyday – sometimes a little, sometimes a lot

This water represents the stress in your everyday life

If you do nothing – then you may sink into anxiety and depression

Your boat has a bilge pump to pump this water out and help you to stay afloat

The more you use your bilge pump the less you sink

Your bilge pump becomes more efficient with learning, exercise, good diet, better sleep, talking & doing what you enjoy

Alcohol and drugs can reverse the bilge pump and pump water into your boat – They can turn a calm day into a stormy day

Not having time to use your bilge pump is the greatest reason for finding time to use your bilge pump.

A proactive approach to wellness can avoid a reactive requirement to illness

19/12/2020

Anxiety is more prevalent now than ever. Understanding Anxiety can help to deal with it.

29/10/2020

Mental Health First Aid - covid style. It has never been more important to understand your own mental health. Selfcare now, is crucial.

To organise any group learning - online or classroom please get in touch. Or visit: https://www.balancemhfa.co.uk/ for more information.

06/10/2020

Understanding your own stress threshold is crucial to your own wellbeing. Tired minds need rest before they crash.

Stress is a main focus on all the courses I run. To find out more about the courses on offer see: https://www.balancemhfa.co.uk/

17/09/2020

A simple approach to help maintain personal health through a better understanding our "Roots of Resiliency".

Grow the good roots - Prune the bad roots.

Open sessions or group sessions available online or face to face with Covid19 safety measures in place.

Please DM me for more information.

11/09/2020

Helping people to help people - another 9 Mental Health First Aiders trained this week from Landmarc Support Services.

Great to be conducting "face to face" training once again, albeit with all Covid safety measures in place we still had a great 2 days of learning.

01/09/2020

ROUND THE BLOCK WISDOM – BY PETE ACKROYD

ANCHORS TO YOUR PAST

Life is full of good and bad. Anchoring yourself to the bad can stop you from moving on. Ignoring the good can prevent you from growing stronger roots of resiliency.

Accept the past, it can’t be changed. Learn how to cope with the bad but focus on the good.

What ever it takes: counselling, running, cooking, reading, learning or talking – find some way to remove your anchors to the bad.

Let the good prevail, live a better life.

18/08/2020

AROUND THE BLOCK WISDOM - BY PETE ACKROYD

If you do not allow time for your wellness, you may be forced to make time for your illness.

Su***de - Have a better understanding of the darkness - maybe you can help to shed some light. It's good to talk about su***de.

Before we drive – we learn to drive.
Before we swim – we learn to swim.

Before we stress – never did any training about that.
Before we become anxious – not sure about that either.
Before we understand depression – As above.

I am responsible for me. You are responsible for you.

11/08/2020

Take the stress out of returning to work.

Returning to work will cause stress and anxiety for many people. If it is planned, organised and supported then it can be far less stressful and more enjoyable for all.

For support with workplace and team strategies to reduce the stressful impact on returning to work contact me direct at:
mhfa.balance@gmail.com

Thanks - Pete.

05/08/2020

In 35 years of military service I learnt an awful lot about people. How to motivate, lead and organise. Often in stressful situations.

However, I was never taught anything about emotional intelligence, mental wellbeing, or mental health. This is not a dig at the services, I loved my time, it's just the way it was.

If we fail to learn from our history then we are doomed to repeat it.

04/08/2020

MENTAL HEALTH & DEVELOPING STRONGER ROOTS OF RESILIENCE

A good friend of mine recently asked about personal resilience. What is it and why bother? He asked if it’s more namby pamby, over complicated waffle that no one has time for in the real world. I said I would draft a short and simple explanation on my take on resilience and why it’s so important, especially at this difficult time.

Mental health encompasses far more than the mere absence of disorders. There are several dimensions when it comes to positive mental health, one of which is resilience.

• Think of resilience as the roots of a tree (your tree). When the wind blows hard the roots keep the tree (you) upright.

• Positive, strong and healthy roots can withstand stronger winds with greater ease. We need to nurture and develop our positive roots to improve our resilience.

• Negative, unhealthy roots provide little support and try to sap the good from the positive roots. We need to prune and restrain these roots to allow our positive roots to flourish.

• Resilience can be learned. It involves challenging and developing your thoughts, behaviours, actions and habits.

• Developing resilience can help you cope adaptively and bounce back after arduous life events.

“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”
―Alexander Den Heijer

25/03/2020

This advice was one of our guiding principles as we deployed to war many years ago. It is more important now than ever. Please share this simple message with a thumbs up reaction to show your support.

Spread the message, slow the virus.

12/03/2020

Helping people to help people through Mental Health First Aid training. I have recently trained 48 members of Landmarc Support Services with more to train over the coming weeks.

I have also trained over 200 others from corporate companies such at Jet2, Hilton and Berry Telecoms over the past 10 months.

For any training around Mental Health, Resiliency, Emotional Intelligence or Wellbeing strategies drop me a line. Happy to help people to help people.

18/02/2020

It's great to enjoy your work. Delivering Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Training last week with Landmarc Support Services was an absolute pleasure. Helping people to help people with MHFA as a key component in the Landmarc holistic approach to workplace wellbeing.

It's also fantastic when you receive feedback such as this:

"I personally believe the MHFA training was the single most interesting, enlightening and rewarding course I have ever attended. The instructors were so passionate about the subject that you could not help yourself being drawn further in to the subject. I would highly recommend the MHFA training to everyone, a real eye opener"

30/01/2020

- please get this to as many people as you can. He's too cute and friendly not to like, share and comment.

This is Mac. He will never judge anyone, he will never discriminate. Maybe we could all learn a thing or two from Mac. The workplace is a great place to start the learning, break the stigma and create a healthier environment for all.

30/01/2020

This is Mac. He will never judge anyone, he will never discriminate. Maybe we could all learn a thing or two from Mac. The workplace is a great place to start the learning, break the stigma and create a healthier environment for all.

06/01/2020

MENTAL HEALTH – LEARN A LITTLE – KEEP IT SIMPLE

Before we drive – we learn to drive.
Before we swim – we learn to swim.

Before we stress – never did any training about that.
Before we become anxious – not sure about that either.
Before we understand depression – As above.

The problems we can’t see can often be our most troublesome.

I have a few vacancies remaining on a one-day Mental Health course focussing on Stress, Anxiety and Depression. Held in Newcastle City Centre on 21 Jan 20. Whether it’s for your business employee’s or for your personal benefit it’s always good to learn about health.

A proactive approach to Mental Health can help avoid a reactive response to illness.

For more information or to book a place please E Mail me at: mhfa.balance@gmail.com or visit www.balancemhfa.co.uk

02/01/2020

Dear All, (Please share to help increase my business footprint - thank you)

IN RECENT MONTHS I HAVE TRAINED ABOUT 250 PEOPLE IN MENTAL HEALTH – UP TO NOW, ALMOST EVERY SINGLE PERSON HAS EXPERIENCED, BEEN CLOSE TO OR IS SUPPORTING SOMEONE WITH A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE.

TRAINING A FEW PEOPLE IN YOUR BUSINESS CAN HELP PEOPLE TO HELP PEOPLE, BREAK THE STIGMA AND UNDERSTAND HOW TO OFFER SUPPORT AND INFORMATION TO HELP SOMEONE IN DISTRESS.

This is a great opportunity to start 2020 with some education and knowledge about mental health that will undoubtedly help your people, help your business workplace and help yourself with a great take home life skill.

One Day Mental Health Champions Course - Tue 21 Jan 20 @ The Beacon, Westgate Road

This training will help people to understand Mental Health, help build a healthier workplace, recognise the symptoms of mental health conditions, learn to listen non-judgmentally, learn the mental health action plan, guide a person to support and information to support a journey to recovery.

For more information contact Pete Ackroyd on: mhfa.balance@gmail.com or visit: www.balancemhfa.co.uk

12/12/2019

Dear All,

THIS YEAR I HAVE TRAINED ABOUT 250 PEOPLE IN MENTAL HEALTH – UP TO NOW, ALMOST EVERY SINGLE PERSON HAS EXPERIENCED, BEEN CLOSE TO OR IS SUPPORTING SOMEONE WITH A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE.

TRAINING A FEW PEOPLE IN YOUR BUSINESS CAN HELP PEOPLE TO HELP PEOPLE, BREAK THE STIGMA AND UNDERSTAND HOW TO OFFER SUPPORT AND INFORMATION TO HELP SOMEONE IN DISTRESS.

This is a great opportunity to start 2020 with some education and knowledge about mental health that will undoubtedly help your people, help your business workplace and help yourself with a great take home life skill.

One Day Mental Health Champions Course - Tue 21 Jan 20 @ The Beacon, Westgate Road

This training will help people to understand Mental Health, help build a healthier workplace, recognise the symptoms of mental health conditions, learn to listen non-judgmentally, learn the mental health action plan, guide a person to support and information to support a journey to recovery.

For more information contact Pete Ackroyd on: mhfa.balance@gmail.com or visit: www.balancemhfa.co.uk

28/11/2019

It was an honour and a pleasure to deliver Mental Health Awareness training to some of the volunteers at the Newcastle West End Foodbank today. These wonderful people give up their own time to help those in need.

20/11/2019

Thank you to Newcastle United Foundation for a great session last night at the Men's Health Workshop @ St James Park. This initiative promotes the message that a proactive approach to health - is always better than a reactive approach to illness.

We all have choices - if we have a better understanding of our own Mental Health - perhaps we can make better choices to look after ourselves.

Learn, talk, listen, help, support & "be better"

OPEN MENTAL HEALTH COURSES ARE RUNNING IN NEWCASTLE CITY CENTRE.

TO THE BUSINESS COMMMUNITY - IF YOU HAVE EMPLOYEE'S - TAKE THE PROACTIVE APPROACH TO THEIR WELLNESS - A SINGLE DAY OF TRAINING CAN ADD REAL VALUE OT THE WORKPLACE.

Find out more at: www.balancemhfa.co.uk

Balance - MHFA Qualified Specialist Mental Health Training Provider

15/11/2019

We all judge – all the time – we have to.
When it comes to listening to someone who is struggling with a Mental Health issue:
Leave the Judging to the judges.

Learn how to help someone – Learn how to help yourself.
Its good for business – Its good for you.

www.balancemhfa.co.uk

Balance - MHFA Qualified Specialist Mental Health Training Provider

12/11/2019

Dear All,

COME ON NEWCASTLE – LETS GET TALKING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
Newcastle is the friendliest city in the UK yet the North East has the highest number of deaths by su***de.

MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING COURSES – NEWCASTLE CITY CENTRE

Balance Mental Health Training Services are delivering a series of mental health training courses in Newcastle City Centre over the forthcoming months. These courses will be open courses specifically designed for small to medium sized organisations to send along a few work colleagues without disrupting core business in the workplace. Find out more and book your course here:

https://www.balancemhfa.co.uk/

12/11/2019

12/11/2019

12/11/2019

09/11/2019

Did you know the North East has the highest number of su***des in Britain? Come on Newcastle, let’s get talking💚💜

09/10/2019

03/10/2019

The Balance MHFA Process...😁