By Anne Coffey

Jennie O’Hara and her JMO Training Services, which is based in Millthorpe in the Central West, was recently nominated, and selected as a finalist in the Business NSW Western NSW Business Awards for most outstanding start-up.
Although Jennie’s business did not win at the Awards, held on the 23rd of June, Orange Ex-Servicemen’s Club, she was very honoured and excited by the nomination.
Condobolin people will remember Jennie and her husband Tim O’Hara, as they lived and worked in Condobolin in the late 90s and early 2000s. Jennie was the Youth Worker with the Central West Youth Support Group and Tim ran his Auto Electrician business.
Jennie is the daughter of Jo and Les Fyfe of Lake Cargelligo.
After working in the helping profession for several years Jennie decided to take her passion for Mental Health training and set up her own training business five years ago.
She will shortly reach a huge milestone of delivering 100 Mental Health First Aid courses in rural, regional, and remote Australia in August. As a Principal Master Instructor of Mental Health First Aid (highest level) 100 courses is the next milestone and Jennie is very proud to have achieved that in five years.
Jennie is passionate about Mental Health First Aid training being delivered to the people in rural and regional Australia by someone from rural and regional Australia, not someone from the metropolitan centres. “I feel this is important because having grown up on a farm in the central west and living and working all my life in regional and rural NSW, I understand the challenges and complexities of life here.” Jennie said.
“Orange Aboriginal Lands Council have invited me to hold my100th Mental Health First Aid course at their offices 7th and 8th August. Some of their staff have completed the Standard Mental Health First Aid training with me previously both in Orange and Gilgandra and they have been a great supporter of my business. They want to support as many people in the community to receive this important training as possible.”
Jennie has provided training to people all over the Central West and beyond.
Over the last two years Jennie has provided training in; Orange, Bathurst, Millthorpe, Oberon Eugowra, Nyngan, Canowindra, Goulburn, Balranald, Wentworth, Broken Hill, Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Batemans Bay, Merimbula, Gilgandra, Lake Cargelligo, Condobolin, Blayney, Bega and as far away as Esperance in WA.
Jennie provides a range of training courses.