Our next Mindarma podcast features two guests, John McGarvey and Pauline Askin, who talk about their roles as peer supporters in the organisations they work for.
John is a senior firefighter at Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) and has been a member of the FRNSW peer network for over 10 years. John is also a Mental Health First Aid Instructor. FRNSW has had a peer support network for nearly 30 years, one of the oldest among first responder organisations in Australia. It currently has 60 active peers.
Pauline is the editorial office manager in Sydney for Reuters, the world’s largest news provider. Pauline joined the Reuters peer support network in 2016, a year after it was established. Reuters has 59 peers across the globe from a multitude of cultures and backgrounds.
While peer networks are well established in police and emergency services, they have yet to take hold in other sectors more broadly despite growing evidence that they can be a pillar of mental health support to employees.
Today John and Pauline speak with Dean Yates about the important role peer support networks play in their organisations.