Danske Bank raises £130,000 for children’s mental health promotion

Danske Bank raises £130,000 for children’s mental health promotion

Action Mental Health depends a great deal on corporate support to help fund our many and varied services delivered to all age groups right across Northern Ireland. And this week, during Children’s Mental Health Week, we are delighted to hear the announcement by one of our corporate partners, Danske Bank, that they have raised £130,000 for our Healthy Me programme over the past two years.

The money was raised by Danske Bank’s employees and customers since 2017 when it began to actively support Healthy Me, which aims to positively promote mental health and social and emotional well-being in 8-11 year olds.

To date, the £130,000 has helped bring Healthy Me to 1,928 children and 374 adults in 2018 and will reach a further 1,375 children and 195 teachers and parents this year.

Aisling Press, Head of Branch Banking at Danske Bank said: “We believe that as the largest bank in Northern Ireland we have a responsibility to contribute to the local communities we serve and play our part in addressing issues that affect wider society.

“In Northern Ireland one in five adults are affected by mental ill-health at some stage in their lives. But it is not just something that concerns adults, children are affected by mental health issues too. Research shows that 50% of all adult mental health problems are developed by the age of 14. Through our support of Action Mental Health’s Healthy Me, we want to improve the outlook for our future generation.”

Action Mental Health’s Chief Executive, David Babington added: “Just last month, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Ireland reported that children and young people’s mental health in Northern Ireland remains at crisis point. While this is extremely worrying, it reinforces the need for early intervention and educational programmes like Healthy Me.

“The theme for Children’s Mental Health Week 2019 is ‘Healthy: Inside and Out’ something that is reflected in our programmes for children and young people. We focus on promoting mental well-being alongside physical well-being, encouraging participants to engage in the five ways to well-being, to help support the development of coping skills and emotional resilience.

“We rely on Danske Bank’s support to enable us to deliver Healthy Me sessions across Northern Ireland and would like to thank them for their generosity.”

Vicky Logan, a P6 teacher at Oakfield Primary School in Carrickfergus which recently benefitted from Healthy Me, said: “We found the session with Action Mental Health incredibly valuable. Mental health issues can affect the youngest to the oldest in society but as adults we have better tools to cope with it. Healthy Me will have taught the pupils some important skills that they will be able to carry with them throughout their lives.”

The partnership between Danske Bank and Action Mental Health is set to continue in 2019 and includes volunteering, education initiatives for the charity’s clients and wellbeing support for Danske employees.