The National Volunteering Unit at NHS Health Education England (HEE) works to support volunteering across health and care (NHS, Social Care, and VCS) through the design, development and promotion of education, training and development resources and opportunities. We encourage staff who want to volunteer within the NHS, by providing unique and accessible projects and programmes to do so, and harness and embrace the power of the new technology and digital to drive work forward.

Our shared programme of work includes:

• The National Volunteering Certificate

• Learning Hub Content Curation and Creation

• Employer Supported Volunteering opportunities

• The National NHS Volunteer Forum and the National Volunteer Portal

• Digital Innovation in Volunteer Education, Training and Development

• Diversity and inclusion

• NHS Ambassadors programme

• Research, Publications, Communications and Events

• Volunteer to Career

The purpose of this Invitation to Tender is to commission Mental Health First Aid training for Project Wingman volunteers.

Project Wingman was established in March 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to provide health and wellbeing services to the NHS and volunteering opportunities for furloughed aircrew. Over 6500 volunteers registered with Project Wingman to support wellbeing lounges across 104 sites to provide a caring and relaxing space for NHS colleagues.

Volunteers regularly supplied lounges with goods at a cost to themselves, despite being on a furlough and on a reduced salary. It is estimated, Project Wingman volunteers provided the equivalent of 47 years of wellbeing services at no cost to the NHS, and over 450 have since taken on new roles within the NHS. While a number of volunteers have returned to their substantive roles or gained employment elsewhere, up to 1000 remain active.

There is an opportunity for the NHS to recognise the significant contribution of Project Wingman and to invest in their personal development and career progression as well as their own mental wellbeing. One identified project is the procurement of the two-day Mental Health First Aid training for up to 1000 volunteers.