Volunteers receive peer support training
Volunteers receive peer support training
The latest cohort of peer support members underwent training to offer mental health and wellbeing support to fellow CFA members.
The CFA Peer Support Program, supported by the Organisational Wellbeing Team, comprises CFA employees and volunteers from across the state who generously offer their time to provide mental health and wellbeing support to fellow members and their immediate families.
Peer Support is a contact, support, and referral service with an emphasis on brief, practical interventions. CFA Peers understand our work at CFA and can help members engage and access wellbeing support that is available and appropriate to their needs, including referral to programs provided by Converge, our Member Assistance Provider (MAP) or the Chaplaincy Program. Members may seek wellbeing support for either personal reasons or reasons related to their CFA role.
Newly recruited peer supporters were upskilled over two training weekends in May. The volunteer peer training weekend in Kalorama involved 26 new volunteer peer trainees, 12 experienced volunteer peers and five employees, while the corporate peer training weekend in Creswick was attended by 16 trainees, 10 experienced corporate peers and two volunteer peers.
The Peer Support Program plays a crucial role as a ‘prevention/early intervention’ pillar in CFA’s strategic wellbeing initiatives.
CFA members can access the volunteer or corporate peers through the Wellbeing Support Line at 1800 959 232, selecting option ‘2’ and then selecting the relevant peer team.