Mental health employers
The Think Ahead programme has been an excellent way to recruit high calibre staff and align our organisation with a wider programme to develop practice education.
Rachel Willis, Director of Social Work, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust
We partner with NHS trusts and local authorities to deliver our mental health social worker training programme and strengthen mental health teams.
There are no fees, and we pay each partner organisation up to £36,000 to support their workforce development.
We have worked successfully with more than 60% of England’s NHS mental health trusts, and 30% of local authorities.
Grow your workforce
Attract people who are committed to supporting people living with mental health needs.
- On average we receive over 90 registrations for every available training place with us.
- We use a three-stage selection process involving social workers and service users.
- 80% of our trainees are still working in mental health services three years after qualification.
Upskill your workforce
Your new recruits and the existing staff who become their consultant social workers get advanced training to improve service effectiveness and outcomes for service users.
- Training in social interventions such as motivational interviewing, systemic family approaches, and the connecting people intervention.
- A focus on long-term recovery, including interventions at the individual, family, and community levels.
- Leadership tools to develop skills in relationship-building and influencing.
- Trainees earn a postgraduate diploma and a master’s degree in social work practice from Middlesex University, and excellent preparation for Approved Mental Health Professional training.
- Your consultant social workers earn a postgraduate certificate in advanced social work from Middlesex University, and practice educator stages one and two qualifications.
Support service improvement
Our programme is designed to drive change and strengthen social approaches with our partner organisations.
- Bridging the gap between health and social care, we are helping mental health teams across the country change how they deliver support.
- In 2024, 96% of our programme’s NHS and local authority operational leads recommended partnering with us to help improve mental health services.
Think Ahead has completely reaffirmed the positive impact social work can have on the delivery of specialist mental health services. The enthusiasm and talent of the trainees has raised the profile of social work across the organisation.
Dr Lynn Prendergast, Associate Director Social Care, Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Partner with us
Find out more about how our training programme and partnerships.
If you’d like to discuss partnering, we’d love to hear from you.
Email our Head of Partnerships and Development, Roxanne Timmis, on r.timmis@thinkahead.org.