Mental Health First Aid Trainer Children & Young People in Surrey

About Croydon Drop In

Croydon Drop In (CDI) is a Croydon-based children's charity providing an integrated pathway of mental health, wellbeing and therapeutic support to children, young people and families aged 10-25. We work across the borough through therapeutic services, our SEND and Transitions service, and our Outreach and Talkbus programme, supporting over 5,000 young people and family members each year. Central to our strategy and values is a commitment to co-production and the meaningful involvement of young people in the design and development of our services. We believe that supporting children and young people's mental health starts with listening to their voices, experiences and needs; this role plays an important part in making that happen through training and community-facing work.

Purpose of the Role

The Mental Health Trainer - Children & Young People will deliver Croydon Drop In's children and young people's mental health training contribution within a partnership Mental Health Training Service. The postholder will plan, develop and deliver high-quality mental health training focused on children and young people to schools, colleges, youth organisations, parents and carers, voluntary and community sector organisations, frontline workers and other partners across Croydon. The role will focus on improving understanding of children and young people's mental health, reducing stigma, encouraging early intervention, strengthening resilience in families and communities, and improving knowledge of local support available in Croydon.

This post is specifically focused on children and young people's mental health training. Training for adults will sit outside the main focus of this role and will be delivered through the wider partnership arrangements. The postholder will deliver training in accessible community, school and youth settings, support participant recruitment, contribute to co-production and involvement of children, young people and families with lived experience, collect feedback and monitoring information, and work with partners to ensure the training offer is relevant to Croydon's diverse children, young people and families.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Children and Young People's Mental Health Training Delivery:
• Deliver mental health training sessions, workshops and briefings focused on children and young people across Croydon, in schools, colleges, youth settings, community venues, voluntary sector settings and online where appropriate.
• Deliver training in a way that is engaging, age-appropriate, accessible, inclusive, safe and responsive to the needs of different audiences, including children, young people, parents, carers and professionals who work with them.
• Where appropriately qualified and accredited, deliver Youth Mental Health First Aid or other recognised mental health training programmes for children and young people.
• Deliver or support training and awareness sessions on areas such as mental health awareness, emotional wellbeing, resilience, stigma reduction, self-harm and suicide prevention awareness, trauma-informed practice, signposting, boundaries and community support for children and young people.
• Ensure training includes appropriate information about local children and young people's mental health and wellbeing services in Croydon.
• Adapt training materials and delivery approaches to meet the needs of different age groups and audiences, including children, young people, parents and carers, and people with different levels of confidence, literacy, language needs, digital access or previous experience of mental health training.
• Ensure all training is delivered in line with Croydon Drop In policies, safeguarding children and young people requirements, confidentiality expectations and professional boundaries when working with under-18s.
• Community Engagement and Participant Recruitment:
• Promote the children and young people's mental health training offer to schools, colleges, youth organisations, parents and carers, community organisations, faith groups, voluntary and community sector organisations, statutory partners and local employers of young people.
• Build and maintain positive relationships with schools and local partners to encourage participation in training and improve reach across the borough.
• Support targeted engagement with underserved communities and groups identified through the contract, including Global Majority communities, families in areas of deprivation, young carers, and children and young people with additional needs.
• Work with partners to identify appropriate school, youth and community venues and accessible, age-appropriate delivery formats.
• Support outreach and engagement activity so that training is visible, trusted and relevant to Croydon's diverse children, young people and families.
• Contribute to marketing and communications activity, including information for flyers, website content, newsletters, social media or partner briefings as required.
• Training Development and Co-production:
• Contribute to the development and review of training materials focused on children and young people, ensuring they remain accurate, age-appropriate, relevant and aligned with good practice.
• Support the co-production of training content with children, young people and families with lived experience of mental health problems, where appropriate.
• Use feedback from participants, partners, schools and communities to improve training content and delivery.
• Contribute ideas for additional children and young people's mental health training modules in response to emerging local need.
• Work with colleagues and partners to ensure training is culturally appropriate, trauma-informed and responsive to the needs of Croydon's children, young people and families.
• Maintain awareness of relevant children and young people's mental health issues, local services, safeguarding practice, equality and diversity considerations, and developments in public mental health.
• Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting:
• Maintain accurate records of training delivered, attendance, participant roles, organisations reached and feedback received.
• Collect participant evaluation and feedback information after training sessions.
• Support the collection of demographic monitoring information in line with agreed data protection and contract monitoring requirements.
• Contribute to quarterly monitoring reports, annual reporting and internal updates as required.
• Use feedback and monitoring data to identify gaps in reach, improve uptake and strengthen training quality.
• Support the monitoring of outcomes, including changes in participants' confidence, knowledge, awareness and ability to signpost to appropriate support.
• Ensure all records are stored securely and handled in line with UK GDPR, confidentiality and Croydon Drop In policies.
• Partnership Working:
• Work collaboratively with commissioners and other partners involved in the Public Mental Health Training Service.
• Represent Croydon Drop In positively and professionally in external meetings, school settings, community settings and partnership spaces.
• Maintain effective working relationships with schools, voluntary sector partners, statutory services, community organisations and local youth-focused services.
• Contribute to a coordinated public mental health training offer across Croydon, avoiding unnecessary duplication and supporting joined-up delivery.
• Share learning and insight from children and young people's mental health training delivery with colleagues and partners.
• Support the development of young mental health champions, peer networks or community trainer models where these form part of agreed delivery plans.
• Attend meetings with the Council's Authorised Representative, commissioners or other contract stakeholders as reasonably required, and support the Director of Finance and Business Operations in providing management information for contract reporting.
• Sustainability and Service Development:
• Contribute to the development of a sustainable children and young people's mental health training offer for Croydon.
• Support learning from delivery to inform future training models, including school-based or peer trainer approaches, income generation or partnership delivery where appropriate.
• Identify opportunities to expand reach, improve accessibility and strengthen long-term capacity around children and young people's mental health.
• Contribute to internal discussions about service improvement, quality, risk and future development of the training offer.
• Support development of a paid-for training offer for organisations outside Croydon, including identifying customers, pricing/packaging products, and building a sustainable income stream.
• Safeguarding:
• Complete safeguarding children and young people training commensurate with the role, and keep this up to date as required by Croydon Drop In and the Council.
• Act in accordance with Croydon Drop In's code of conduct on professional boundaries and relationships with children, young people and other service users, and support a culture where colleagues feel able to raise concerns, including through Croydon Drop In's whistleblowing policy.
• Report any safeguarding concern or allegation involving a child, young person or vulnerable adult to Croydon Drop In's Designated Safeguarding Lead immediately and, in any event, within 24 hours, in line with the Council's safeguarding requirements under the Public Mental Health Training Services contract.
• Make accurate, factual and contemporaneous written records of any safeguarding concerns or incidents, and retain these in line with Croydon Drop In's data retention policy and the Council's requirements.
• Comply with applicable health and safety law, and report any health and safety incidents or hazards encountered while delivering training in schools, youth settings or community venues.