This week, as part of the #CovidWellbeingNI Partnership, we have put together some information for those caring and supporting someone with an eating disorder during the coronavirus pandemic.

Action Mental Health’s eating disorder service – AMH everyBODY is based in the Southern Trust area, and aims to promote greater understanding and awareness of eating disorders. We have adopted a recovery approach to provide help and support to people with eating disorders and also to their friends and family. We also advocate and lobby on their behalf, for specialist services. Last year in 2019/2020, AMH everyBODY supported 3,808 people.

Eating disorders are a coping mechanism and stressful situations such as the one we find ourselves in at present can exacerbate behaviours as your loved one may resort to controlling the one thing they know best …. FOOD.

Deborah McCreedy from AMH everyBODY – “As a carer, we understand this can be an extremely scary time for you too. You might be spending more time at home with your loved one and it can be extremely difficult watching them struggle. You may experience feelings of helplessness but please do not underestimate the key role you can play in supporting them through this uncertain time”.

“We have put together some information, to give you some insight as to the thoughts and feelings your loved one might be experiencing right now. This will aid your understanding of how you can best support them and we have included our own tips to help along the way“

“Sometimes you might feel a little out of your depth, and that’s okay, you’re still learning. If you feel you could benefit, we are currently offering telephone and onnline support. Please don’t be afraid to reach out by emailing either Deborah ([email protected]) or Erin ([email protected])”.

Further advice and support can be found on the CovidWellbeing NI website which the AMH is contributing to in partnership with 15 other mental health charities, as well as the Public Health Agency and the Departments for Communities and Health.

Follow us all week on our social media channels for more tips!

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

Northern Ireland’s Mental Health Champion has joined Action Mental Health and leading advocates in the field of suicide prevention to mark today’s World Suicide Prevention Day, delivering a message of hope and remembering those lost to suicide.

World Suicide Prevention Day follows an unprecedented phase in modern society when lockdown halted life as we know it and brought challenges to many people right across the world, including here in Northern Ireland.

AMH has produced a short video carrying the message of this year’s theme and also highlighting the range of support that is available to people locally.

Leading the field of mental health and suicide prevention practitioners and campaigners to feature in the video is Professor Siobhan O’Neill, who was this year appointed as Northern Ireland’s first ever interim Mental Health Champion – an appointment which was warmly welcomed by Action Mental Health, after many years of campaigning for the post.

In the short film, she is joined by Órlaithí Flynn, Chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s All-Party Group on Suicide Prevention and Sinn Fein’s mental health spokesperson, while Lisa Archibald, Project Co-ordinator with the Families Voices Forum, also adds her voice.

Action Mental Health’s own Colin Loughran and Sarah Grant Jones, make up the team carrying the important message of working together to prevent suicide.

In the year since World Suicide Prevention Day 2019 marked the launch of the Protect Life 2 Strategy for reducing suicides and the incidence of self-harm, Northern Ireland has also welcomed other key developments.

Action Mental Health Chief Executive, David Babington commented: “AMH’s campaign for a Mental Health Champion was realised, and a Mental Health Action Plan has also been created, including a commitment to produce a mental health strategy. We now need to ensure that these commitments and strategies are fully implemented and properly resourced, to ensure we can address the very unique circumstances in Northern Ireland.

 “What is required now, more than ever, is a copper-fastened pledge by the Executive to fully fund and resource these new strategies, such as Protect Life 2, to help reduce the number of suicides in Northern Ireland.

“Today, as we mark World Suicide Prevention Day, the collaboration shown by so many people and organisations reinforces the importance message – that suicide is preventable and by working together, we can help save lives.”

Action Mental Health and Lighthouse have announced that they are exploring options for closer collaborative working. The Boards of both organisations are keen to build and sustain the existing expertise within the two organisations and want to build on the strong track record both have in partnership working to deliver better outcomes for clients.

The purpose of this initiative is to enhance effectiveness in meeting the needs of clients and local communities whilst ensuring resources are used to best effect. It is possible that this process could lead to Lighthouse and Action Mental Health merging which means they will become a single entity.

In the first instance the two Boards have agreed to form a joint Steering Group to manage the process and they will be actively engaged in a process over the next months to examine ways to work together more effectively. We would ask for the support and encouragement of all our stakeholders in this process; our key priority is to ensure a seamless provision of existing services to clients as this process progresses. We would wish to reassure our clients and service users that this is a process designed to enhance and protect current services. There will be no negative impact on the services and support you are currently receiving.

Any relevant queries from stakeholders should be referred in the first instance to their usual contact within the respective organisations. The Steering Group will agree a communications strategy to ensure that clients, service users, staff, stakeholders and other interested parties are kept informed of progress on an ongoing basis.

Progressive Building Society has partnered with Action Mental Health and The Consumer Council NI to launch its third annual Northern Ireland Savings Week, from 7^th-11^th September. Savings Week was developed with the aim of instilling a savings culture across Northern Ireland. This year, the coronavirus pandemic has encouraged Progressive to shift the initiative’s focus to encouraging people across Northern Ireland to ‘open up’ about our finances, savings and how they impact on our mental health.

Commenting on the shift in focus for this year’s Savings Week, Jane Millar, Head of Lending and Savings at Progressive Building Society said, “COVID-19 has affected many people’s financial situations, whether through furlough or loss of income, and we recognise the impact money worries can have on our mental health. That is why we wanted to use this year’s Savings Week as an opportunity to encourage people across Northern Ireland to open up about financial and mental wellbeing, and educate individuals and families about the positive impact that regular saving can have on our mental health in the long term. ”

With nearly a third of people in Northern Ireland having had to cut back on essentials like food or heating and 1 in 10 people have missed a debt repayment in recent months*, Progressive, Action Mental Health and The Consumer Council have developed a programme of financial tips and information, highlighting the link between personal finances and mental wellbeing, educating people about budgeting and how to look after your mental health are available on the Northern Ireland Savings Week section of Progressive Building Society’s website.,

Jonathan Smyth, Fundraising & Communications Manager at Action Mental Health, said of the partnership “We are delighted to be working alongside Progressive and The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland Savings Week as we know that financial anxiety and money worries can have serious impacts on people’s mental wellbeing. Teaching people about savings and budgeting, as well as taking steps to look after their mental health, is a simple way to prevent these issues getting out of control.”

Scott Kennerley, Director of Financial Services at The Consumer Council, which is supporting Northern Ireland Savings Week for the third year, commented: “At a time when household finances are already tight and peoples’ mental health may be impacted by money worries, it is more important than ever to encourage each other to open up and speak out about savings, budgeting and money management.

“For those looking to make the first step towards regular saving as a way of protecting their mental health in the longer term, our online budgeting tool is a great place to start. The tool can be found on the Northern Ireland Savings Week section of Progressive Building Society’s website, along with lots of useful information from Action Mental Health,.”

Reflecting on the partnerships for this year’s Savings Week, Jane Millar said, “Together with Action Mental Health and The Consumer Council, Progressive, as a leading savings account provider in Northern Ireland, aims to provide support for local people who are currently experiencing financial stress. The partnerships we have garnered for this year’s Northern Ireland Savings Week have brought real expertise and depth of understanding to the initiative, and we are looking forward to opening up about savings with the Northern Ireland public and our Members.”

For more information on this year’s NI Savings Week, and to access help and support around saving, budgeting or mental health and wellbeing, visit www.theprogressive.com

The impact of lockdown and the pandemic has had a big impact on many people’s mental health and well-being, meaning Action Mental Health’s services are needed now more than ever.

But, we need YOUR support as our fundraising income has been hit badly during this time.

You can help us by #TakingActionOnMentalHealth.

It’s NATIONAL FITNESS DAY on Wednesday 23rd September 2020 – why not fundraise for us with a virtual fundraising challenge?

Simply click here to REGISTER NOW.

You can register as an individual or as a team.

By doing so, you’ll not only help raise funds, you’ll be getting active and supporting your own mental health.

You can choose to walk, run, swim, cycle, wheel or even scoot! Anywhere and at anytime you wish – this is your virtual challenge. We just want you to set a target that you can meet by 23rd Sept.

Here are some examples of activities that you could choose to do:

• Swim 1 km, start now and build up your distance, so that you can meet your target by National Fitness Day.
• Choose to walk 5 km every day until September 23rd! Why not take the dog as well?
• Run – work up to running your first 10 km or maybe set a big target like 100 km and aim to hit it by 23rd Sept?
• Cycle 20 km every day picking a new route each day and visiting local beauty spots.
• Run a full marathon – get the running shoes out and get training to try and clock up 42 km on a day you choose.
• Get the KIDS involved! Cycle or scoot a loop of your park everyday!
• Do an Ultra-Challenge! Like cycle the distance from Malin to Mizen Head – c600km
• Or by choosing to do your own distance and activity, get creative!
  

Once you register and create your fundraising page you can link it to the Strava app to track your progress. Don’t worry if you don’t have the app – you can download it for free before or after you register.

One great added extra is the opportunity to get some friends together (while adhering to public health guidance) to take part in a team challenge.

So there you have it, there are plenty of options to get involved, and get fundraising.

Simply click here to REGISTER NOW. You can register as an individual or as a team.

You can complete the challenge any time between now and 23rd September, 2020.

For more details or ideas on how we can support you please email [email protected]. We’d love to hear your story and why you’re fundraising and we can also supply you with branded t-shirts and fundraising materials.

REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE!

NB If you plan to do this as a team, please follow these simple steps when registering…

For Team Captains – Create your team! (simply by selecting the Team Registration option), when you register.  You can give your team a name when you select the CREATE option, at this point you will be asked to add the contact details of all your team members, including their email addresses.

It is important to remember to do this when you CREATE your team, as members will be asked to FIND their team when they register, and will need to know the exact name you have given them, i.e., Julie’s Action Mental Health’s relay team.

Whatever you are doing, please do make sure you complete your activity safely and within the guidance on public health. Thank you.

Our Impact Report 2019/20 is now available to download!

Packed with stats from our recovery services and resilience services, it is a clear picture of how we are having an impact in our local communities.  We really are living up to our mission – to make a positive difference to people’s mental health and well-being!

A snap shot:

• 26,284 beneficiaries of AMH Resilience services
• 4,120 accredited training outcomes by AMH clients
• 197 clients progressed to paid employment, voluntary work  or further education or training
• Our messages to raise awareness and tackle stigma, reached 26M people via traditional and digital media
• New Life Counselling (then a member of the Action Mental Health Group) delivered 15,553 counselling sessions
• We had 176 wonderful people working in Action Mental Health

A hard copy is available by contacting [email protected] 

A full copy of the consolidated group annual report and audited accounts of the year to 31st March 2020 can be obtained by contacting [email protected].

As we approach the start of a new school year, after what has been a genuinely unprecedented period for everyone including children, young people, parents and teachers we are focused on ensuring mental health and emotional well-being is prioritised.

We’ve been working hard to adapt all of our programmes over the last few months to make sure we can still deliver them safely and to ensure that we are reacting to the situation people find themselves in.

You can find out more about the range of programmes that we have on offer by clicking here. You’ll also find contact details for our teams so that you can make a booking for your school, college or group.

To help relaunch our programmes for the new school year we’ve created some new characters for our Healthy Me team and we’d love you to help us name them all! 

You can include your suggestion for each character on our survey – link below. We’ll go with the most popular!

You can also leave us your email address if you would like someone to contact you about our resilience and well-being programmes for children and young people.

Click here to complete the survey!