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AMH News

NI school children to benefit from £70,000 boost for mental health promotion

Pictured are Aisling Press, Head of Branch Banking, Danske Bank and Gillian Allen, Project Worker at Action Mental Health with pupils from Andrews Memorial Primary School along with their Principal, Mr Magee. Andrews Memorial will be one of the schools to benefit from ‘Healthy Me’ in coming weeks.

Children in schools across Northern Ireland will benefit from a mental health promotion programme thanks to a £70,000 funding boost from Danske Bank.

Danske Bank selected Action Mental Health as its charity partner for 2017 with the aim of raising money for its ‘Healthy Me’ programme. In one year, Danske’s employees raised £50,000 for the charity, and the bank matched £20,000 of this.

‘Healthy Me’ is a health promotion programme for 8-11 year olds that aims to positively promote mental health and social and emotional wellbeing in children. The money from Danske Bank has allowed Action Mental Health to increase the size of its team of specially trained project workers who provide mental health programmes like ‘Healthy Me’ in local schools.

An additional 1,450 children across Northern Ireland will benefit from AMH’s ‘Healthy Me’ programme and 450 teachers and parents will receive mental health resilience and awareness training.

In addition to fundraising, Danske employees volunteered over 270 hours with Action Mental Health during the year, from providing practical help at their New Horizons services to offering advice on budgeting and fraud awareness to the charity’s clients.

Aisling Press, Head of Branch Banking at Danske Bank said:

“One in five adults in Northern Ireland are affected by mental ill-health at some stage in their lives. It’s a fundamental challenge for our society but we believe we can help address the issue for future generations by supporting and investing in the mental health of our children and young people. That’s why supporting Action Mental Health is so important to us. ‘Healthy Me’ is a fantastic initiative that has a strong focus on prevention; helping children to build their resilience and learn how to cope with setbacks in life.

“We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with Action Mental Health in 2018, building on the success of last year, not only in terms of fundraising but also through the contribution that our employees make as volunteers, sharing their time, skills and professional expertise to support AMH and its clients.”

Action Mental Health’s Chief Executive, David Babington added:

“Having worked with Danske Bank in 2017, we were really pleased to see how committed Danske Bank is to supporting its employees and our team have been delighted to deliver our Mindful Manager training to over 80 managers in the last six months with more sessions planned for 2018.

“I would like to thank Danske Bank employees and customers for their incredible support of Action Mental Health in 2017. It is thanks to their fundraising efforts that we will now be able to deliver ‘Healthy me’ to an additional 1,450 children in 2018, not to mention the 450 teachers and parents who will also benefit from training.”

 

 

AMH News

Victoria Square focus on Mental Health

(L-R) are: Tom McEneaney (Aware), Regina Cox (Addiction NI), Tricia Browne (Action Mental Health), Lauren Campbell (Marketing Manager at Victoria Square), Elaine Brannigan (Cruse) and Paul McCusker (PIPS)

Victoria Square, Belfast have just announced their charity partnership for 2018 that supports 5 incredibly worthy charities under the umbrella of Mental Health and Action Mental Health has been chosen alongside Aware NI, Addiction NI, Cruse Bereavement Care NI and Pips Charity.   

Victoria Square hopes to help these charities not only raise vital funds in 2018 but raise awareness & remind people that it’s good to talk about your mental health.

 

AMH News

Wedding planning season kicks off in Perfect Bliss style

It’s wedding planning season once again! As brides-to-be and their grooms get excited about their big day they’re hot-footing it to wedding fairs across the country. Wedding fever reached The Stormont Hotel in Belfast on Sunday when Action Mental Health showcased its alternative wedding favours – when wedding parties can donate to the charity to support local people with mental ill-health, through our wonderful partner, Perfect Bliss Wedding Events. Don’t worry if you missed this one – you can catch the next one at the Culloden Hotel in Cultra, next Sunday, January 14 from 1pm to 4pm. At each event, one exhibitor will get the chance to win half the cost of their stand and this week’s winner was ‘With Love Alex Stationery’. The rest of the proceeds of the competition go back to AMH. Thanks so much to everyone who came along to support us and Perfect Bliss Wedding Events.

AMH News

Foyle’s Christmas Fairy Village

It’s been like Santa’s Workshop up in AMH New Horizons Foyle! For weeks & weeks our very talented Clients have been creating their very own “fairy village” for Christmas. As you journey through the magical village, clients have shared positive messages reminding everyone to look after their own and others mental health over the holiday period and spreading Christmas cheer!

Testimonials

Ben’s Journey

When I was a student in England, life was good. But then I took ill with depression at the start of the third year of my biology course. I returned home and attended mental health services, who put me in touch with my local AMH unit. I started off by attending an art class once a week, which was good fun. The art class got me out chatting with other people and meant I had something to get up for on a Monday morning. Despite an unstable mood, I persevered with the art class and about nine months later I decided to challenge myself by trying out some voluntary administrative work. I spoke to the Employment Officer Stephanie McKeating who found a small, friendly and down-to-earth charity Good Morning Down that welcomed and supported me. This added more routine and structure to my week, and I felt like I was helping someone out and being useful.

I have a real interest in technology, and so a few months later I embarked on the ECDL computer course at AMH. I thoroughly enjoyed this and achieved a recognisable qualification too. As my mood slowly began to improve, I felt that I could manage some part-time work. After discussing my options with Stephanie the Employment Officer, I started applying for a couple of jobs and to some recruitment agencies. I managed to get two interviews for admin posts – it was nerve-wracking but I chose to battle on and try to manage the anxiety. I was unsuccessful in securing both posts which was disheartening, but as my brother says, “nothing can take the place of persistence”. Months later, I received an email out of the blue from one of the employers asking if I would still like the job, as the successful candidate had decided not to take it. I was absolutely thrilled and said yes! The job is going really well and has meant my week is much busier. I feel like I have a real sense of purpose.

The team at AMH have been brilliant. Along with the wonderful mental health services, they have supported me through some difficult times, and helped me to get my life back on track. It has taken a long time, and has required much patience and determination, but I’m getting there. Not every day is a breeze, but I’m in a much better place now than I was three years ago.

The New Horizons project Ben participated in is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy

 

Ben

AMH News

Feeding our hungry feathered friends this winter with local school children

AMH Derriaghy have been working with the River Trust and The Conservation Volunteers to ensure our little feathered friends don’t go hungry this winter while we’re all indoors stuffing ourselves with the treats of the festive season.

Clients have been turning their artistic hands to making bird boxes to hang near the Seymour Hill area of Lisburn. The boxes are to be installed with the help of two local primary schools, who will help select the prime spots to attract our hungriest birds.

This is  just one of a number of nature conservation projects AMH Derriaghy clients are getting involved in, and which brings together diverse parts of the community to share in the common aim of nature conservation.

AMH News

New Horizons Fermanagh clients SMASH volunteer target!

New Horizons Fermanagh are celebrating after smashing their target of volunteering 1000 hours in the local community – by clocking up an extra 300 hours. The ambitious target was set as part of the Fermanagh-based service’s 25th anniversary commemorations.

Clients made a massive contribution to the local community through a variety of placements, from befriending people with disabilities and caring for animals, to building a dirt bike track, upcycling old furniture, working in charity shops and packing food hampers for those in need over Christmas.

The challenge provided clients with the opportunity to tap in to the Five Ways to Wellbeing, with individual placements allowing them to ‘stay connected, be active, take notice, learn new skills and give back’. It also gave clients a shared sense of achievement by surpassing their volunteering goal by 300 hours. Joined by Raymond Farrell, one of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Mental Health Champions, and Lynn Johnston from Volunteer Now, 36 clients celebrated 1300 hours volunteering across 23 different organisations.