National training provider First Response Training has delivered “engaging, accessible” first aid training for members of a local social club for adults with a learning disability and autistic people.
The Monday Night Club is a fantastic Worcester-based social club run by members, for members. They organise social get-togethers, discos, karaoke evenings, parties, talent shows, sports, games and many other fun activities and days out for adults with a learning disability and autistic people.
The club also organises annual training in Emergency First Aid at Work for its members. This year, they invited First Response Training to quote for the delivery of this essential training course.
The leading national training provider went one step better for The Monday Night Club – delivering the course completely free of charge! One of their highly experienced trainers, Jon Purton, delivered the Emergency First Aid at Work course on Tuesday 29th April to a mixed group of staff and volunteers, some of whom have learning disabilities or are neurodiverse.
Helen Gill, CEO of The Monday Night Club, heralded the training as “a great success!”
She added:
“Jon’s training was perfect for our mixed group of staff and volunteers, some of whom have learning disabilities. He delivered the Emergency First Aid at Work course in an engaging, accessible way that was just right for our team and the kind of work we do at The Monday Night Club.
“Thank you to everyone at First Response Training for your generosity and support!”
Empowering adults with learning disabilities and autistic people
Helen’s daughter Laura Gill, who has a learning disability and is autistic, founded The Monday Night Club in 2011 after realising that socialising and keeping connected to friends was essential to her health and wellbeing. She wanted to create a positive space where she and other adults with learning disabilities and autistic people could meet friends and have fun, supporting them to maintain positive mental health and wellbeing and lead more independent lives.
On The Monday Night Club website, it is noted: “Making friends is not easy for people with disabilities, and young people with learning disabilities are twice as likely not to be engaged in education, employment or training as those without. They are often isolated and spend a lot of time at home with parents, family, carers, or completely on their own.”
Laura has since been awarded several prestigious awards for founding The Monday Night Club.
Outside of The Monday Night Club, Laura also engages in fulfilling employment with First Response Training. For the past 18 months, she has contributed to their team as an Expert with Lived Experience for the co-delivery of the essential and ground-breaking Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Programme.
This means that Laura has been working as part of a trio of trainers to deliver Oliver’s Training to staff teams from across the NHS. Working with an established Facilitating Trainer and another Expert with Lived Experience, Laura provides valuable and unique insights for learners by sharing her own experiences as someone who lives with autism and learning disabilities.
As well as working alongside her at The Monday Night Club, Helen has provided essential support to her daughter by accompanying her to and from training venues when Laura is co-delivering face-to-face sessions. Helen has also helped to promote this valuable employment opportunity to other Experts with Lived Experience who attend The Monday Night Club.
First Response Training offers adaptive, inclusive learning opportunities
It was this close relationship with First Response Training that led the impressive mother-daughter duo to approach them to deliver their annual first aid training for members.
They specifically requested Jon Purton, a Facilitating Trainer they are both familiar with, because they knew he would “adapt perfectly” to the needs of their members.
Becky Cropper, Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Lead at First Response Training, has worked closely with both Helen and Laura to support Laura in her role as an Expert with Lived Experience Co-Trainer. She was instrumental in arranging the first aid training for The Monday Night Club and says:
“As an organisation, we are really proud to say that, by offering this course free of charge to a local organisation supporting people with learning disabilities and autistic people, we’ve helped empower their members to feel fully confident in providing first aid.”
First established in 1997, First Response Training have now been delivering high quality training courses to diverse audiences for over 27 years. Working with businesses and organisations across the UK, they provide a wide range of training in first aid, health and safety, fire safety, food safety, health and social care, mental health and other special focus topics.
First Response Training were one of the first training providers to be approved to deliver the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Programme, helping to roll out this essential programme since early 2023. They now employ almost 70 Expert with Lived Experience Co-Trainers across the UK.
They are a Disability Confident Committed organisation and were recently awarded INclusive Worcestershire Leader status. They regularly work with charity and community groups to explore the support they can provide with both learning and employment opportunities.
For more information, please call freephone 0800 310 2300 or e-mail info@firstresponsetraining.com.