The GMCA Blue Light Development Academy offers fully funded training courses to blue light workers in Greater Manchester, with all training delivered by Seetec Outsource. The selection of available courses includes leadership and management, British Sign Language and a “Beat the Burnout” programme, provided in partnership with the Manchester Stress Institute. In the final weeks of 2022, a number of staff members from the NWAS (North West Ambulance Service) were enrolled onto the first “Beat the Burnout” course under the new initiative.
Aneesa Hussein was one of the learners to complete the course and she described her experience and the benefits it has had on both her work and her overall mental wellbeing:
Aneesa said: “The programme gave me some fantastic tips on sleep routine, improving my diet and my day-to-day eating habits. My main concern was that I was struggling with sleeping; Jeannette went through my normal routine with me and gave me some suggestions on how to make small but significant changes to it. It’s these little things that you probably don’t normally give a second thought to that actually make a massive difference and they certainly have to me.”
Aneesa works as a Patient Transport Service Call Taker for NWAS and has been working in her position for eight years. She described the huge impact the course has had on her capabilities at work: “Once I had completed the programme, my colleagues noticed a massive change in my demeanour; I was more energetic, I looked brighter, I could engage better and I was more focused, all because I had been eating the right food and had had a decent amount of sleep.”
Furthermore, Aneesa was quick to demonstrate the flexibility of the programme’s outcomes: “I adjusted and tweaked the suggested diet plan to make it fit in with my lifestyle and it still worked! There was no pressure from the course providers to stick exactly to the plan; it was all about making it work for me.”
With the course being tailored specifically to the schedules and requirements of Blue Light workers, Aneesa explained how it worked with the other work and home commitments in her life: “I keep using the word flexible because I think that’s important. When people are recommended something, the usual excuse is ‘I don’t have the time’ or ‘I’m too busy’; with this programme that’s just not the case. I could select when I wanted to take part in the sessions and I did mine whilst I was at work, because I knew that I’d be busy with my children when I got home. My managers were very accommodating of this and supported me completing the course whilst on shift.”
Jeannette Jackson, Director of the Manchester Stress Institute, said the following of the learners who recently completed the course: “Our whole team is super proud of the outstanding results Aneesa and all the participants achieved on Beat the Burnout. Their dedication to the programme was rewarded with improved resilience, sleep, mental health and stamina for improved performance at work. We’re looking forward to helping hundreds more NWAS staff improve their mental and physical wellbeing throughout 2023.”
To find out more about the GMCA Blue Light Development Academy and the courses available, click the link here.
* Skills for Growth is funded through the European Social Fund and aims to plug the skills gaps in priority sectors across Greater Manchester as outlined in the Combined Authority’s Local Industrial Strategy.
