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AMH New Horizons Derriaghy showcases its talent for global focus on mental health
A showcase of talent came under the spotlight at Action Mental Health as the rest of the globe marks World Mental Health Day this week.
Clients at AMH New Horizons Derriaghy used the worldwide focus on mental health on October 10 to unveil two animations depicting their own journeys from mental ill-health to recovery.
The event took place during the weeklong celebrations of mental health, on Monday, October 7 at Bridge Community Centre, Railway Street Lisburn, with the mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, councillor Alan Given in attendance.
The men and women who attend the Derriaghy Service also committed their personal stories to prose following a series of creative writing classes. Their chronicles translate the impact of their illnesses on their lives, their families and work, and bring to life the positive impact of Action Mental Health.
Action Mental Health
By Susanne
Action Mental Health is just a charity to some but to you and me, it is a sanctuary.
It gives us hope when we see nothing ahead.
It makes friends of us even when we are the loneliest souls.
It brightens our lives by encouraging kindness.
Lifts our spirits and makes us smile.
Encourages our long lost talents to come out to the foreground.
And helps us to discover new ones which without them would never be found.
Our confidence grows and our problems disperse.
All without pressure we can now see our worth.
With gentle nudging, entertaining classes, we see the world in a different light.
We can now face the future and heal from our pasts.
We still have compassion but strengths now galore,
Supporting us daily and we know when we fall,
They will pick us up until we are ready to journey on.
Through dark times and good, they never falter, always there to do what they do best.
They restore faith – faith in human nature.
Thank-you AMH.
The two arts combined with a third, music, and treated the audience to the talents of the Service’s ukulele group.
Clients taking part in the day’s events participate in AMH New Horizons’ ‘Working it Out” project which is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020, the Department for the Economy and the five NI Health & Social Care Trusts.
As Northern Ireland marks World Mental Health Day it’s fitting that the rising incidence of mental ill-health here is remembered. One in five adults in Northern Ireland will show signs of a mental illness, while the prevalence of mental illness in Northern Ireland is 25% higher than in England. Northern Ireland also has the highest rates of incidences and annual presentation for self-harm in the UK and the highest suicide rate – 16.4 per 100,000 population compared to 10.3 in England, 9.2 in Wales and 14.5 in Scotland in 2014.