Supporting our community: A spotlight on our Mental Health First Aiders

This week (12-18 May 2025) marks Mental Health Awareness Week, with this year’s theme focusing on ‘community’.

Across M Group, we have a community of over 250 Mental Health First Aiders, who are trained to provide initial support and encouragement to people across our business who may be facing mental health challenges.

They’re trained to notice the signs of mental ill health and can signpost people towards the resources we offer across our Group.

What’s it like being a Mental Health First Aider at M Group?

Candice Quayle, Documentation Manager, said: “When the Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) programme came along, I couldn’t wait to join up. I have always been interested in understanding mental health better and what we can do to help ourselves more and each other – and wow did this course deliver. It is informative, yet subtle, and gave me the extra tools and the reach to get involved with such a crucial topic. What better way is there, than at work, with people I engage with all the time? And now an Instructor of the MHFA course I get to be a bigger part of such a passionate community.

“The training was four half-day sessions online, but you can do two full days face-to-face. On completion, a MHFA logo is added under your email signature and your name added to the MHFAider list, making your contact details available to people who may feel they need to reach out to you.

“You have access to our resource pool where you can gain additional resources and signpost those you’ve supported. MHFA England offer an app to all First Aiders where extra support can be attained and as a Mental Health First Aider at M Group, you’re part of a great team, who help and guide one another, with a buddying system in place for safeguarding – it’s really well thought out!”

This Mental Health Awareness Week, we asked some of our Mental Health First Aiders to share their top tips for mental health. Candice said: “ Become so aware of your own thoughts, feelings and behaviours, that you are able to nip the unwanted in the bud before they materialise. Don’t hide from them, pay attention to them. That way you are best placed to see when you are having a good day, a bad day or when the bad days start to outweigh the good days and what may be the course of them. With that knowledge, you are able to build up on the reasons for the positive days and reduce the reasons for the less positive days, creating a more enjoyable life – change starts within ourselves."

How do we support the wellbeing of our people?

Across M Group, we understand that making sure our people’s wellbeing is supported is key to the success of our business. 

We offer several support resources, including our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), provided by MetLife. Through this platform, our people can get confidential advice 24/7.

We also have an online GP service, GP24, where our people can receive advice and reassurance, wherever they are in the world.

Across M Group, our people make us stronger, and we take pride in celebrating a friendly, fun and respectful culture where every contribution matters. The health, safety and wellbeing of our people and the public are our top priority, in line with our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) ambitions.