Chamber Champions Local Schools

Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce back a new initiative that supports local primary school children to learn vital first aid and healthy minds skills.

This month, Mini First Aid Sheffield made an appeal to South Yorkshire businesses to become Mini First Aid School Champions; breaking down barriers and improving access to life-saving skills for all children.

In 2020 the government made first aid training for children in schools compulsory. And yet, schools in more deprived areas have limited access to the funds and expertise needed to deliver the professional first aid training that can help save lives. 

School children in less affluent areas of the region are already disproportionately disadvantaged when it comes to health and wellbeing and having less access to people and funding, only serves to widen this gap. According to Local Authority Pupil Premium figures, one in three primary school-aged children in South Yorkshire are classed as disadvantaged.

Mini First Aid Sheffield delivers specialist training to children, parents and carers in schools and community settings in Rotherham, Barnsley and Sheffield. Beyond the obvious benefits of learning life saving first aid skills, the Mini First Aid team provides a bespoke Healthy Minds course to school children. Training gives children the understanding and tools needed to better navigate and respond to mental health challenges throughout their life.

Lynne Urpeth, Membership Manager, Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are proud to join this initiative and to pledge our support for school children. We’ve been serving the local business community for over 100 years and have approximately 1100 active Chamber members employing more than 100,000 people. For us, it makes total sense to become a Mini First Aid School Champion in Barnsley and Rotherham; investing in our communities and workforce of the future. As well as ensuring that more children can access these essential life skills, the hope is that this expert training delivered by Kelly and her team, will help inspire the next generation of health professionals in our region.”

Mini First Aid Sheffield Director, Kelly Wooller, said: “All children should have the opportunity to learn first aid skills and to better understand and look after their own mental health and wellbeing. The gap between those that can and those that can’t access this support is stark in South Yorkshire. By launching Mini First Aid School Champions we are calling on businesses, sports clubs and other groups to pledge their support to a school or a class. For every class and school pledge made, we will deliver an additional Mini First Aid class to improve access for even more children. Together we can reach more schools than ever before, investing in the long-term health and wellbeing of young people locally.”

As well as the community and social value achieved by pledging a package of support to a school, Mini First Aid School Champions can access a range of partnership benefits for themselves and their businesses. Interested parties can download the Business Guide to Becoming a Mini First Aid School Champion and contact Kelly Wooller to explore: [email protected] 

Kate Ball started Mini First Aid in Leeds in 2014 following the death of her brother and no-one knowing how to perform CPR. Demand grew and Kate started franchising the business nationally in 2015. In 2021, BBC Dragon’s Den star Sara Davies became a business investor and advisor. Kelly and Matt Wooller joined the team with Mini First Aid Sheffield in 2022. Mini First Aid is now a multi-award-winning organisation, with a strong brand, customer following and over 70 franchises nationwide. Kelly and Matt want to harness the strength of the network and its reach, to benefit school children in South Yorkshire through Mini First Aid School Champions.

Mini First Aid Sheffield has five trainers who are all qualified NHS professionals committed to delivering inclusive first aid and healthy minds training in a fun and accessible way.