Minding Your Mental Health Messaging Coming to a GAA Club Near You
Initiated by Wexford GAA Health & Wellbeing Committee new signage to highlight both means of minding your mental health and supports available have been developed in collaboration with Healthy Wexford, Mental Health Ireland and HSE Connection For Life (South East). The signage, launched at the Wexford GAA County Convention on 12th December will see signage being made available to each GAA Club across the county.
Mental Health and the importance of minding your mental health has never been more important as we emerge from the pandemic. Increasing awareness around how you yourself can support your own wellbeing and how you can access supports for yourself or others are key messages of this initiative, with the signage providing key support signposts.
Speaking of the initiative, Angela McCormack of Wexford GAA Health & Wellbeing Committee explained how the initiative and collaboration developed. ‘We contacted Healthy Wexford on the initiative and through this connection we were able to reach out to the other key partners of Mental Health Ireland and HSE Connecting for Life. The expertise of each agency helped to develop and refine the signage, ensuring the messaging is clear with key support signposts given prominence’
Gina Delaney of Mental Health Ireland explained ‘The signage provides details of the Five Ways to Wellbeing which are simple actions to practice each day to maintain or improve our mental health and wellbeing. Having the signage in GAA Clubs across the county, will act as a visible reminder to all and we hope will impact on community wellbeing.’
Tracy Nugent of HSE Connecting for Life Suicide Prevention (South East) highlighted the importance of including the steps for support and the key 24 hour supports available. ‘These services are there all the time, whenever they are needed and so they are the key ones for people to know. Where appropriate these national services signpost to local services and so are a first port of call for someone in distress’
Focusing on the impact of the signage in each GAA Club Cllr John Hegarty, Chair of Healthy County Committee at Wexford County Council said ‘Our wish is that this isn’t just a sign in each GAA Club but that it is a mental wellbeing conversation starter and a symbol of a greater openness around the importance of looking after our mental wellbeing’ Annette Dupuy of Healthy Wexford called on each GAA Club member to familiarise themselves with the supports available and to have them as a toolkit of support for themselves and their communities.
Signs will be distributed to each Wexford GAA Club over the coming weeks.
Contact:
Angela McCormack, 086-1506623 [email protected]
Gina Delaney, Development Officer, South East, Mental Health Ireland, 087-8353925 [email protected]
Tracy Nugent, HSE Resource Office for Suicide Prevention, 087-9271041 [email protected]
Annette Dupuy, Healthy County Coordinator, Healthy Wexford, Wexford County Council, 087-6095565 [email protected]
To find out more about the organisations see:
Mental Health Ireland www.mentalhealthireland.ie
HSE Connecting for Life Suicide Prevention (South East) www.connectingforlifesoutheast.ie
Healthy Wexford www.wexfordcoco.ie/community/healthy-wexford
