Dublin teens promote positive mental health

LOCAL teens recently took part in a workshop designed to inspire youths to promote positive mental health in their communities.

The Think Big workshop took place at the O2 headquarters in Dublin.

The young people attending were each awarded a place on the national Think Big programme after successfully submitting an idea for a project in their community.

Think Big has granted initial funding of

?¬300 to help get each project off the ground, along with a mobile phone (with

?¬50 top-up), and a Think Big start-up pack.

Carmel O’Reilly and Evelyn McGrillen, from Clondalkin, worked on furthering the development of Knockmitten Youth Cafe. The youth café will give young people a place where they can socialise in a positive environment without the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Avril Clarke, from Stoneybatter, focused on her website project,

‘Betterthannoodles .com.’ The aim is to make the site the number 1 student cooking website in Ireland. It will include video recipes, which will refer to nutritional values, and the site will work to promote the association between a good diet and a healthy mind.

Megan O’Loughlin, from Artane, developed

‘Simply Positive Performing,’ which will promote dance to boost the mood of the locality. Megan has studied the performing arts and knows first-hand how movement and music can improve one’s outlook on life.

Jill Johnston, corporate responsibility manager at O2, said:

“We would like to congratulate all of our young people who participated in the Think Big training programme and we’re looking forward to seeing them bring their projects to life.

“The variety and high calibre of projects that young people across the country have submitted has really impressed us.

“In addition to funding, each Think Big project group gets support from O2 and Headstrong in the form of mentoring and training and every project is also encouraged to incorporate digital and social media elements.

?

Aisling Flynn, Think Big Co-ordinator, Headstrong, said the young people taking part in Think Big are leading the way in changing how we think about mental health in Ireland.

“Young people intuitively understand the importance of mental health and are ideally placed to promote positive mental health among their peers,

? she stated.

“Each project attending the training has great potential to make a positive difference in their community and in joining over 250 other Think Big projects they are helping to transform our understanding of mental health.

?

The Think Big Programme is open to any young person in the Republic of Ireland, aged between 14 and 25, with an idea for a project that will make a difference to young people’s mental health.

Project ideas can be submitted through the www.o2ThinkBig.ie website. Young people can also join the online Think Big Community to discuss and share ideas about how to promote mental health among young people.