YOUNG Southsiders took their places among 31 Dubliners
who all received funding for projects designed to make a difference to people’s
mental health.
They joined over 60 others from around the country at
the latest
‘Think Big’ workshop in the O2 Head Office weekend that was held in
collaboration with the National Centre for Youth Mental Health.
The young people attending the workshops each
submitted a project through the Think Big website www.o2thinkbig.ie The
training workshops are designed to help them bring their projects to life and
include topics such as
‘Introduction to Mental Health’,
‘Project Planning’,
‘Social Media’ and Communicating with Confidence’.
Among the Southside groups taking part was the
Killinarden Community Council Youth Project. Aaron McDonagh and his team
conducted a theatre workshop working with a group of 15 young people between
the ages of 16 and 18. They also devised a drama presentation around ways in
which young people can help each other with themes such as positive mental
health and dealing with suicide.
Sorcha Kampff and her group from St Mac Dara’s
Community College in Templeogue established the first girl’s rugby team in her
school. They are determined that their positive attitudes will ensure that they
succeed.
Carmel O’Reilly from Clondalkin showcased young
people’s talents around the theme
‘All that is good about me?’ while Daniel
Burke and his Drimnagh Club for You group promote good mental health through
creative ways, such as music and drama.
Educating the Youth of Tallaght about Mental Health
Issues is headed up by Daniel Murphy, who plans to raise awareness and supply
information about mental health in Dublin 24.
O2 has granted initial funding of e300 to help get
each project off the ground, along with a mobile phone and a Think Big start-up
pack.
In addition, every young person gets support from O2
and Headstrong in the form of mentoring and ongoing training to help bring
their proposal to life.
The Think Big Programme is open to any young person,
aged between 14 and 25 in Ireland with an idea for a project that promotes
positive mental health. Project ideas can be submitted at any time for
consideration through the website www.o2thinkbig.ie.
Young people can also join the Think Big community on
the website where they can discuss and share ideas about how to promote mental
health among young people.
Sinead Smith, corporate responsibility manager at O2,
said:
“This is a great start for
‘Think Big’ in 2012, with over 60 young people
at the workshop from all over the country. It was our largest workshop to date.
Young people have a huge interest in making a difference to the perception of
mental health in their society. The
‘Think Big’ workshops are designed to
cultivate and promote these ideas and we are delighted to see more and more
communities benefit from young people’s creativity and hard work.
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Nuala Smith, youth participation officer with
Headstrong added:
“Our involvement with O2 and
‘Think Big’ is reinforcing our
message to soften the stigma associated with mental health amongst young people
“To date we have received a really positive response
from youth groups nationwide. Young
people intuitively understand the importance of good mental health and are
ideally placed to promote positive mental health among their peers. We want to see all young people developing
positive coping skills to overcome the difficulties and challenges they face.
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The next deadline for submission of ideas to Think Big
is February 23 – log onto www.o2thinkbig.ie for more information.