West Tipperary Mental Health Association celebrates World Mental Health Day with local events are free and for the whole community to enjoy…
‘Plan to Protect Your Mental Wellbeing’
From Mon 6th to Friday 10th October there are events daily in the local community in Tipperary Town to celebrate Mental Health Week. The venues for this year’s event are Cuan Croi Day Centre on the grounds of St Vincent’s Hospital’ The Excel Theatre and St Michaels Church.
World Mental Health Day is celebrated worldwide on the 10th of October. It is an opportunity to bring awareness to mental health on an international, national and local scale, informing and educating people about mental health and to work towards ending the stigma and create a non-judgemental space for people struggling with their mental health to open up and talk. Throughout the week Our Focus locally this year is on supporting the ‘Plan to protect your mental well being’ campaign which will be launched this week by Mental Health Ireland. Each event during the five days of the week will focus on one of the simple five steps.
Monday 6th Oct at 11 in Cuan Croi we will explore the five steps of the new campaign. From Tuesday 7th we encourage all to participate in our ‘wear a hat’ local initiative. By encouraging local businesses, organisations and local community to wear a hat or cap when going out for the remainder of mental health week…. This simple gesture we hope may create awareness about the importance of positive mental health in our lives. On Tuesday afternoon at 01.30 we will explore the importance of Mental Health and the meaning of resilience to our lives in an open discussion.
Wed 8th …we have three events in Cuan Croi @ 11am we will have a Live Country Music Session with Anthony. Also at 11am we will have a fun Baking ‘cake pop demonstration’. At 1.30 we will have a talk on ‘Awareness and Recovery around Strokes’ with Guest Speaker Martin Quinn.
Thursday 9th from 10-12 Midday all are invited to a’ COFFEE MUSIC MORNING’ in Cuan Croi with Live Music from Nick McCarthy. Home Made Tarts, scones and delights with some Chatter and Laughter will be there for all to enjoy. We look forward to seeing you there. Also on Thurs@ 11.00 the opportunity to partake in a Drama Workshop ‘the power of the imagination’ with Victoria Carson is open to all and not to be missed. ‘Memoir writing Workshop’ with Sheila Qualey is from 1.00-2.30. Sheila is well known in the writers circle for her Creative Writing
Workshops. As they say… there is a good book in all of us…
On Friday 10th World Mental Health Day at 11.00 Sharp we will celebrate World Mental Health Day in St Michaels Church. Our sincere Thanks to Arch Deacon Mc Grath for making this event possible. We are very fortunate to have such inspiring Guest Speakers to address our community this year. Our Guest speakers are Liam Burke, Niall Mc Namee and Dr. Prince Awuzie.
Liam Burke was featured in RTE’S documentary series ‘Would you believe’… He is Harley Davidson- riding Photographer. Liam has travelled the world as volunteer taking photographs for Concern. In May 2009 Liam was diagnosed with cancer of the brain and spine and his life took on a whole new meaning. Desperate for a miracle Liam tried everything – Padre Pio Mitten, prayers, Medals, Shamans and Healers. Liam had an extraordinary experience at a healing service with Eddie Stones, at the house of Providence in Clonfert. In recent Years Liam like many people had the experience supporting a loved one with a mental health difficulty… Liam has many inspiring experiences to share and how he faced the challenges life placed before him.
Niall Mc Namee will also address those present and share his own personal experience as well as share how he has overcome difficulties in his own Life. Niall is an Irish sportsperson; He plays Gaelic football with his local club Rhode and is a member of the Offaly Senior inter-county team. Now in his late 20’s Niall has an official website which he has dedicated to addiction, mental health and more. Niall has been very open about his own personal experience and we are very pleased that he will be there to address our youth on the importance of positive mental health.
Dr Prince Awuzie, Consultant Psychiatrist for Tipperary will address those present on ‘Plan to protect your mental Health’ and ‘Recovery’.
On Friday 10TH in Cuan Croi at Midday we will have a ‘Particpatory Art Demonstation Workshop’with artist Marion o Donnell. This demonstration will be with acrylics on Canvas. ALL MATERIALS will be supplied free of charge. So don’t miss out on his experience and opportunity to take home your own piece of art. At 2 pm in the Excel Theatre there will be another opportunity to participate in a fun drama workshop ‘creative skills for Creative Drama’ with Paul Maher.
Mental Health Ireland works in partnership with the HSE. Mental Health Ireland’s vision is for an Ireland where mental health is valued as being an essential part of personal wellbeing and the health of the nation. Rather than focusing on mental and emotional pain as something to be eradicated, we need to promote the message that it is normal and indeed natural to feel down at times, and that feeling vulnerable is an inherent part of being human.
Mental Health Ireland have launched their ‘Plan to Protect your Mental Wellbeing’ campaign this Mental Health Week. It encourages everyone to become aware of their wellbeing by following five simple steps. These include Connecting with others, being Active on a daily basis, Taking Notice of what’s happening around you, to Keep Learning and to Give back to your community, friends or family. By monitoring our activities and actions in these areas of our daily lives we can see which areas we are doing well in and others we may need to concentrate on.
West Tipperary Mental Health Association is one of 103 member organisations of Mental Health Ireland (MHI) who are headquartered in Dublin. MHI’s primary function is to promote positive mental health and wellbeing and actively support persons with a mental health condition and their families on their journey towards recovery. You can make a difference by participating and attending local events.
Endeavouring to cover all the five steps of ‘Plan to Protect’ campaign we do hope you will come and enjoy some of the activities in Cuan Croi the Excel and in St Michaels Church. All events of the week are free of charge. If you have any queries on any of our events please ring Cuan Croi on 062 82123.
