Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Mental health and wellbeing non-profit The Support Yard has launched a new Support Guide Certification Scheme for the building materials industry.
The Support Guide Certification is an eight-day certification programme that focuses on mental health support, training Support Guides to act as an approachable first point of contact for someone who may be struggling at work or in their personal life.
They are not counsellors or mental health professionals, but are equipped with the confidence and practical skills to recognise when someone might need support, start a safe and appropriate conversation, understand their own boundaries and signpost colleagues towards further help when needed.
Samantha Hanks, Founder of The Support Yard, said: “We want to give people across our sector the confidence to recognise when somebody might need support and, just as importantly, know what they can realistically and safely do to help. Our training has been designed specifically for the building materials sector, diving deeper into what a Support Guide can do to help colleagues and improve workforce resilience and going much further than the statutory training already available.”
The first training programme will begin in October, taking place across four months, and combining both in-person and online training.
