Mayday-SA is raising much needed funds to host training courses and develop material for the aviation fraternity to create greater awareness regarding their mental health and wellbeing exponentially adding to aviation safety.
Mayday-SA is an NPO that has been in existence since 2011 and was born from the double Albatross aircraft accident near Tzaneen where the aviation industry realised the need for peer support in adverse events. The reality of the recent and current COVID pandemic has brought the focus of mental health and wellbeing to the fore. The aviation industry has been particularly hard hit and it has been a very challenging time for us. Peer support is a well-recognized international approach in supporting aviation professionals that have experienced a traumatic event such as an aircraft accident or incident, and also any personal trauma that may influence their performance. The secret to the success of such support is because peers understand the personal and safety implications of such adverse events and can best relate and support their colleagues. These peer supports are in turn supported by a group of volunteer psychologists that understand the risks posed by aviation incidents and that this environment cannot and does not tolerate mistakes and absent mindedness.
There has been an increase in the number of general aviation accidents and this has once again, served to emphasise the need and importance for support to aviation professionals. They need to be able to perform at their best in serving us as passengers. In the past two years, Mayday-SA has been there to provide that support to groups and individuals in the industry as they experienced challenges ranging from the impact of retrenchment on mental wellbeing to medical license concerns and dealing with fatal accidents.
We intend to expand our reach beyond our primary focus on pilots into other areas of the industry to include more occupational groupings that work at the sharp end of safety, such as air traffic controllers, cabin crew and aircraft maintenance engineers.
The current and prevailing economic environment places a burden on all of us and sadly our services are needed now more than ever. To raise much needed funds to maintain and grow our support to the aviation industry in upholding safety, Mayday-SA is planning an online auction of unique aviation-based experiences. Who wouldn’t want to experience a fighter jet flight or try their hand at an airline simulator experience or visit behind the scenes at a commercial airport and air traffic control facility? To spice things up we also have managed to secure a few “mystery” auction lots that are so unique that money cannot buy them.
The online auction will be held on Wednesday 31 August 2022 from 19h00
Registration: https://form.jotform.com/generalenquiries/Mayday-SA-auction-registration-form
Or via our website: https://mayday-sa.org.za/
#MayDaySAAuction
