Mental Health First Aid Training for Marshals
Mental Health Motorbike are MCIA’s official charity partner, they feature in our document The Journey’, which makes the case for motorcycling and the benefits it offers to the UK economy and the positive effect on a rider’s mental health and physical wellbeing.
Mental Health Motorbike support bikers to grow the wellbeing of the motorbike community. They rely solely on unpaid volunteers, every penny raised goes to help riders that need support with their mental health. All the staff are, or have been, bikers for many years. Their slogan is 'When life gets tough, we are here to listen, to support and to ride’. They use the shared love of motorcycling to encourage riders to talk to them when they may not be prepared or able to talk to others.
In addition to the online support network, they are building a dedicated mental health first aid network for bikers, with a team of qualified mental health first aiders in bike shops, clubs and cafes, retailers and in the industry itself of course. Mental Health Motorbike runs these training courses which are accredited by Mental Health First Aid England.
Mental Health Motorbike have over 1,800 riders in their support group and 5,300 contributors to their Facebook page. Many of the volunteers are recovering from mental health issues. They receive support when they need it, and in turn when they are able, they give support to others, assist at events, with online activities, get involved as ambassadors or organise fundraising activities.
Many motorcyclists are race enthusiasts and Mental Health Motorbike recognise the essential role played by Race Marshals and want to help. There is already a lot of support provided for Marshals, but Mental Health Motorbike recognised that these volunteers Marshals must cope with a variety of often disturbing and difficult, mentally challenging situations. The effects of this can vary from person to person, but for many the memories will persist long after the incident and can have a negative impact on their mental health.
Mental Health First Aiders can offer effective help and support, so Mental Health Motorbike have decided to organise a raffle, with tickets available from October, both online and at Motorcycle Live. This will raise funds to enable the offer of Mental Health First Aid training, free of charge, to Race Marshals and others who would not otherwise be able to afford to take the training. Mental Health Motorbike have set themselves a target to reach 1,000 qualified Mental Health First Aiders by the end of 2024.
MCIA fully support Mental Health Motorbike and to this end we are asking our members if they would be prepared to help by providing exciting raffle prizes. Products, services, experiences or of course tickets for race meetings or similar would all be very gratefully received and help raise as much money as possible for a fantastic cause. Offers to promote Mental Health Motorbike and the raffle would be gratefully received.
If you can help please contact Karen Cole at MCIA, who is also a Trustee of mental Health Motorbike.