About Strongmind
Strongmind Resiliency Training are award-winning specialists in trauma management, resilience, MHFA, suicide and mental health awareness training. We have decades of operational and training delivery experience.
At Strongmind we run face to face and virtual training as well as an excellent e-learning platform enabling learners to work at their own time and pace.
About Us
Strongmind - What we do
Building Mentally Healthy Workplaces
At Strongmind, we specialise in training programs that build resilience, raise mental health awareness, and prepare teams to manage trauma and prevent suicide.
We work alongside organisations to empower managers with the tools to create supportive, psychologically safe workplaces. Our expert-led sessions also help staff look after their own wellbeing and support colleagues during tough times.
We’re proud to support those in high-pressure, high-stress roles—where mental resilience isn’t just valuable, it’s essential.
Helping You Make a Difference
At Strongmind, we help organisations build mentally healthy workplaces.
Many employees struggle in silence with their mental health. Our training empowers your staff, managers, and colleagues to have supportive conversations that encourage early help-seeking and reduce stigma.
We also provide trauma-informed training. When someone is exposed to a critical incident, we teach you how to carry out structured risk assessments—so no one falls through the cracks.
Our proven, highly rated courses don’t just improve awareness—they give your team the tools and confidence to respond effectively when it matters most.
Support early. Support well. Make a lasting impact.
Who We Work With
Over the years, Strongmind has partnered with a wide range of clients across both the public and private sectors. Our training programs have helped organisations make meaningful improvements to staff wellbeing, resilience, and workplace culture.
We continue to work with numerous NHS Trusts and hospitals, as well as police forces and law enforcement agencies across the UK. In the private sector, we support companies in industries such as construction, media, banking, security, and transport.
Strongmind is also proud to be an approved training provider for the UK Government Campus, delivering specialist training in mental health, resilience, and trauma management.
Join the organisations prioritising mental wellbeing.
Contact us to find out how we can support your team.
Why Mental Health Training Matters
Our Team
Richard Dorney MBE, MStJ, MSc, was a distinguished British Army veteran with 39 years of service, during which he pioneered the Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) system and became one of the UK’s leading trainers in the field. Specializing in the care of wounded, injured, and sick personnel, he also shaped relevant military policy. Academically accomplished, Richard held an MSc in War and Psychiatry from King’s College London, and certifications in psychotraumatology, suicide intervention, and mental health first aid.
After retiring, he co-founded Strongmind Resiliency Training Ltd with Sue Dorney to promote mental health awareness and provide non-clinical support strategies. Under their leadership, Strongmind has trained thousands across the UK. Richard passed away in November 2022, but his legacy lives on through Strongmind’s continued growth and commitment to mental wellbeing.
Mark Kingston MBE, MA, BSc (Hons)
Mark Kingston is a highly experienced Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) trainer with 39 years of service in the British Army. He is an expert in course design and holds a BSc (Hons) in Forensic Psychology. His areas of specialization include international humanitarian intervention, soft systems analysis, and post-conflict stabilization operations.
During his military career, Mark was responsible for delivering Trauma Risk Management training across the British Army. Since retiring from active service, he has continued this work, providing training to emergency services and NHS personnel.
As a former Welfare Officer, Mark commanded a Personnel Recovery Unit, where he oversaw all aspects of case management, safeguarding, and personal development for a large number of wounded, injured, and sick personnel. He is a recognized expert in personnel recovery and resilience.
In addition to his operational roles, Mark is a passionate lecturer, teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students on topics related to personal crisis management.
Chris Collett MSc, PGCE
Leadership & Organisational Development Consultant
Chris Collett is a highly experienced leadership and development consultant with over 30 years of expertise in training, education, and coaching. He served in the British Army’s Corps of Royal Engineers and the Educational and Training Services Branch, where he led initiatives focused on leadership, learning, and behavioural change.
Since leaving the military, Chris has continued to design and deliver leadership and management programmes for a wide range of sectors, including construction, public services, and government departments such as the Home Office. His approach is grounded in practical experience and underpinned by academic insight.
Chris holds an MSc in Education, Practice and Innovation and a PGCE from the University of Southampton. He uses this foundation to inform the research, structure, and delivery of high-impact learning and development programmes.
He is also a qualified:
Mental Health First Aid Instructor
Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) Trainer
Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Coach
The Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team™ Trainer
Everything DiSC® Facilitator
Chris specialises in raising self-awareness and personal responsibility, helping individuals and teams improve performance through behaviour-focused coaching. His facilitation style encourages participants to challenge assumptions, confront behaviours, and develop meaningful, sustainable solutions.
Sue Dorney MCTHA
Co-founder & Director, Strongmind Resiliency Training
Sue is a British Army veteran, having served as an Experimental Assistant in Gunnery. She brings over 30 years of expertise in business administration and project management, and is a driving force behind Strongmind Resiliency Training.
During the first Gulf War in 1991, Sue served as an Assistant Casualty Visiting Officer—an experience that gave her deep insight into the intense pressures faced by those in public service. This perspective continues to inform her commitment to supporting resilience in others.
Sue took over Strongmind on the death of Richard – her husband of 43 years, and she continues to ensure the company excels at everthing.
Sue leads our quality control strategy, manages client relationships, and oversees both sales and accounts. Her dedication to operational excellence ensures that our continuous improvement processes run smoothly—delivering real value to both our clients and learners.
David Blocksidge, MSc, PGCE
Expert in Memory and Trauma | Critical Incident Trainer | Former Metropolitan Police Officer
David Blocksidge is a respected educator, researcher, and subject matter expert in memory formation under high-stress conditions. With 30 years of service in the Metropolitan Police, he now provides expert insight on witness reliability in criminal trials and misconduct hearings.
David has twice presented his findings to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Human Rights, highlighting how trauma can impact the accuracy and consistency of witness testimony.
His sought-after training on memory distortion and perceptual error is delivered across the UK and internationally. He currently trains the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and UK police forces. As a guest lecturer at Cranfield University and King’s College London, David equips individuals and organisations with the knowledge to navigate the legal and reputational risks associated with critical incidents.
Jase Smith BSc (Hons), FCMI
Experienced Trainer | Mental Health Advocate | Security Risk Manager
Jase brings over 35 years of British Army service, with extensive experience in training, military operations, and humanitarian missions around the world. He is a qualified Security Risk Manager and a Fellow Chartered Manager with the Chartered Management Institute. He holds a BA (Hons) in Leadership and Management and is currently pursuing a PGCE at the University of Portsmouth.
For the past 8 years, Jase has delivered Mental Health First Aid courses—specialising in Armed Forces, Adult, and Youth programs—to a wide range of clients. He also provides training in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, drawing on his years of service as a welfare officer supporting wounded, injured, and sick military personnel and their families. His work extends to collaboration with multiple charities.
Jase’s expertise in Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) was shaped by operational deployments in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan, and with the United Nations. He remains deeply committed to improving mental health awareness across all sectors, particularly among leaders responsible for the wellbeing of their teams.
Shelley Bamford, BSc (Hons)
Associate Trainer
Shelley Bamford brings a wealth of experience to her role as Associate Trainer at Strongmind. With over 15 years of expertise in social and occupational health, she is a highly skilled practitioner and trainer in the field of mental health.
A former member of the Royal Military Police and Army Welfare Service, Shelley served 23 years in the British Army, delivering emotional and practical support to service personnel and their families worldwide. She advised senior leadership on mental health and wellbeing, contributing directly to the armed forces’ operational effectiveness.
Shelley played a key role in supporting service members recovering from injury, she also co-founded and led support programs for Ministry of Defence staff dealing with occupational stress.
Her academic and professional qualifications include:
BSc (Hons) in Psychology
Diplomas in Social and Occupational Welfare, and Domestic Abuse Studies
Certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor and TRiM Trainer
Qualified counsellor and personal safety trainer
Subject matter expert in domestic abuse, offering regular training and consultancy
Steve Thornton
Steve Thornton is a retired Metropolitan Police Officer with over 30 years of service. He began his career as a Cadet in 1982 and officially joined the force in 1983. After starting in Inner London, he transferred to the elite Firearms Unit (SO19) in 1995 and later became a National Police Firearms Instructor.
Following his retirement, Steve continued his commitment to policing as a civilian Senior Firearms Instructor for over five years.
Steve is highly experienced in trauma support and officer wellbeing. He is:
A Post Incident Support Program Selected Instructor
A Welfare Coach for the Police Firearms Officers Association
An Ambassador for Police Care UK
A TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) Manager
A Founding Member of the National Prevention of Police Suicides Group
A Certified Mental Health First Aid Trainer
Passionate about officer welfare, Steve is a proactive Wellbeing Champion and has formed the Trojan Wellbing group, offering help and support to UK Police Officers who are struggling for any reason with their wellbeing. He works tirelessly to support police and emergency services personnel, particularly in managing trauma. He also teaches TRiM, and MHFA as part of the Strongmind team.
Hughie Benson
Hughie served in the British Army for 24 years, retiring as a Regimental Sergeant Major. He served on operations all over the world and was responsible for the daily management of circa 600 soldiers. Hughie was also the TRiM coordinator on a number of challenging operational tours. He managed a team of TRiM Practitioners responding to multiple traumatic events. His experience in the operational management of trauma is invaluable.
It was during these operational deployments that Hughie realised the importance of managing trauma in its early stages. Having seen the results of successful interventions, he is passionate about improving the management of people after critical events. Hughie now works to support teachers and youth leaders to help build bridges between young people, their social environments and education. He does this by adopting a trauma informed approach.
Gina Simpson
Gina served 20 years in the Royal Air Force as a Flight Operations Manager. Responsible for implementing Post Crash Management and Contingency plans for station based and operationally deployed air assets. She operated in many roles during her military career which included TRiM practitioner and incident leader. She has worked with Tri-Service personnel and Mountain Rescue Teams delivering RAF TRiM policy post incident.
Gina is an experienced instructor and since leaving the military has specialised in First Aid for Mental Health, Safeguarding and First Aid at Work Training. Passionate about the education, care, and well-being of others, she is currently studying BSc Nursing with the University of Highlands and Islands.
Lorraine Thomas
Lorraine is a highly capable and motivated professional currently serving as an Officer with the British Army. She has a proven record of success in multinational and culturally diverse environments. Lorraine is experienced in performance management, training development, and course delivery. She was the Chief Instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for Late Entry Officer Training.
With extensive leadership skills and operational experience and as a former member of the Royal Military Police. She is a fully trained investigator and has served all around the globe.
As a fully qualified Mental Health First Aid Instructor (Adult, Youth, Armed Forces) she has delivered these courses to a wide range of organisations. She is also trained and experienced in the delivery of Trauma Risk Management and Applied Suicide Intervention skills.
Whilst Officer Commanding the Army Personnel Recovery unit in London, she was responsible for providing support to wounded, injured and sick personnel. She is highly experienced in resilience and wellbeing training, for which she received a Commendation for her Valuable Service and Contribution in 2015.
She has several Strategic and Leadership Management qualifications. Is a trained Chartered Management Institute Coach and Mentor and holds a teaching and education qualification. Currently she is an MBA student and hopes to qualify soon.
Gavin Percy
Gavin Percy
Originally a Hospitality professional and then a Business Development Strategist. Specialising in assessing and improving sales performance and sales processes – often through training, coaching and mentoring of the sales team.
Following some personal Mental Health issues, and others close to him, Gavin decided to specialise in Mental Health First Aid Training. To improve attitudes towards Mental Health and wellbeing in the workplace. This will improve morale; loyalty; productivity and employee wellbeing. Gavin’s passion is to encourage companies to develop mental health and wellbeing strategies that work, changing the culture within those businesses.
Kiechelle Degale
Kiechelle Degale has over two decades of experience in developing training for positive mental health and life management strategies with a specialism in Emotional Fitness. She is a feature writer and Lecturer for Mental and Emotional Health and a Keynote Speaker. She leads seminars and workshops in transforming individuals and groups by developing self-confidence and self-esteem, elevating skillset and mindset for the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Kiechelle is especially keen to ensure men, black people and people of colour and those from LGBTQ+ communities can access the Mental Health First Aid training as this cohort tends to be underrepresented in these courses. Known for her passionate and enthusiastic approach Kiechelle regularly receives an overwhelming amount of outstanding feedback.
Backgrounds and Qualifications
Psychotherapy, NLP, Postgraduate qualification from Oxford Brooks University in Education, Diploma in Community Education, Crisis Counselling, Trauma awareness and management, Domestic abuse and Mental Health.
Delivery
Adult MHFA One Day Classroom and Online
Adult MHFA Two Day Classroom and Online
Adult MHFA Refreshers Classroom and Online
Understanding Trauma
Mental Health for Managers
Claire Nicholls
Bac(Hons)) Occupations’Therapy
Claire Nicholls
Claire has a wealth of experience in delivering MHFA. Having been a MHFA instructor for 7 years, Claires passion and experience is evident throughout the many courses she delivers. Among the courses she is readily able to deliver are:
- MHFA adult
- MHFA Refresher,
- MHFA Half day,
- MHFA one day,
- MHFA two day,
- Higher education
- Race equity and mental health courses.
- Trauma Risk Management,
- Understanding Trauma.
Kay Morgan
PGCE, BA (Hons)
Kay Morgan
As a Mental Health Campaigner and MHFA England Instructor Member, Kay provides mental health awareness and skills training to a variety of organisations, charities, and communities nationally. Working with the aim to help people develop the skills needed to look after their own and others’ wellbeing and reduce the stigma associated with mental ill health.
Kay believes that if Mental Health training can help to increase mental health awareness literacy and reduce the stigma associated with mental ill health, then hopefully this will translate into a decrease in sickness absence, increase in wellbeing and improved productivity in the workplace.
She has been training adults for 23 years and delivers the MHFA England half day Mental Health Awareness course, the one-day Mental Health Champion course, the Mental Health First Aid course and Mental Health First Aid Refresher training. As a Strongmind trainer, Kay delivers the Mental Health for Managers, Personal Resilience, Vulnerable Caller Training and the Stress, Trauma and Resilience training.
Jim Evans
Jim Evans
Jim served almost 40 years in the British Army where he became the lead trainer within the Army Trauma Risk Management Training team. Delivering TRiM training to hundreds of service personnel around the world. His service saw him act as a TRiM coordinator on operations and he also acted as a family liaison officer for bereaved families.
Jim has been a Mental Health First Aid Instructor since 2015, delivering the full suite of MHFA training from Adult to Youth courses in both the public and private sectors. He is highly regarded as a tutor in this area and is also a Suicide First Aid tutor, accredited by the National Centre for Suicide Prevention and City and Guilds of London.
As a Strongmind trainer Jim has worked extensively with the UK Civil Service and has delivered a variety of courses to staff around mental health and wellbeing to a wide range of government departments from the Home Office to the DWP. He has used his TRiM expertise to train hundreds of NHS staff over the Covid 19 Pandemic period and has worked with Police constabularies. In addition Jim has delivered training overseas on behalf of the US Department of Defence, in leadership and communication. Jim is a highly versatile and flexible trainer who uses his operational experience to bring learning to life.
Ken Bamford
MBA, BSc (Hons), FdA
Ken Bamford
Ken is an MBA graduate and expert in leadership, risk, neurodiversity and
employee relations, with 22 years of service with the British Army’s Royal Military
Police. He has also worked for ACAS as a senior business consultant across
organisations of all sizes in all sectors. Ken has dealt with interpersonal and group
conflict in some of the most hostile environments across the planet and is a
highly experienced investigator, mediator and negotiator. He was formally
recognised as an ED&I Champion by the British Army with the Meritorious Service
Award, which also recognised his passion and selfless commitment for creating
workplace cultures based on respect, dignity and fairness.
Ken was late diagnosed Autistic (Aspergers Syndrome) at aged 50, following circa
40 years of not fitting in and knowing something was not quite right, but not
exactly what. Following his diagnosis, Ken (ironically) used one of the strengths
of his Autism to laser focus on the academic research around Neurodiversity,
mapping this across to his own lived experience, and that of others. Ken now
drives thought leadership using his extensive expertise in this field. He is
currently working on joint projects with the charity sector and UK Government to
raise awareness of how Neurodivergent characteristics and talents can benefit the
business environment, specifically in UK Defence and National Security.
Mark Davies
MSc
Mark Davies MSc
Mark served a full and varied career in the British Army. Throughout this time, he was employed in a variety of appointments, including many instructional roles, making him a very experienced and accomplished trainer. Of note, he spent several years as part of a small team dedicated to the delivery of Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) Training. This period involved the training of hundreds of military personnel, with the focus being on their preparation for deployment to operational theatres. Additionally, during this period, Mark spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan assisting the Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health with mental health research.
For academic progression, Mark attended King’s College London, where he gained an MSc in War & psychiatry. In addition, he has earned a Certificate in Psychotraumatology with the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. He is also trained in applied suicide intervention skills, and holds a Certificate in Teaching in the Life Long Sector.
Since leaving the Army, Mark has delivered a range of mental health, peer support, and resiliency training in the UK and overseas. Audiences have included the Emergency Services, National Health Service, Criminal Prosecution Service, Network Rail, and Border Force.
Mark is extremely passionate about mental health training, and peer support strategies. Moving forward, he hopes to expand his knowledge and skills, by training to become a Mental Health First Aid Instructor.