Mojo Listens support programme hopes to be a stepping stone for men
By Mary Dennehy
A NEW listening service for men is being offered by Mojo Sheds in Jobstown every Wednesday and Thursday evening – another pioneering Tallaght-based, grassroots project that is leading the way nationally.
Officially launched last week, Mojo Listens is a new programme which saw members of Mojo Sheds trained by the Samaritans as ‘listeners’ - with members now manning a listening drop-in service twice a week in St Thomas’s Resource Centre, Jobstown.
Danny Morris, Shed leader, told The Echo: “I suffered with depression all my life and Mojo and the Mojo Sheds changed my life.
“A lot of the members suffer with depression and Mojo has been magic for us, so we wanted to give something back and make it easier for more men to talk about their problems.
“Mojo Listens hopes to be a stepping stone for men.
“It can be very hard approaching main stream services but Mojo is a lot more informal and involves men talking to men who have had similar problems.
“We are here to listen, not to give advice. We are here to encourage men to talk about themselves and hopefully through talk they will start to lift the burden – and we can signpost them to other community services.”
He added: “We heard about a similar programme run by the Samaritans in the prison service where prisons are trained to listen to each other.
“We approached the Samaritans and they were happy to come on board and offertraining, as far as I know we are the only programme offering this listening service outside of the prison service.”
Mojo Listens was officially launched last Thursday in St Thomas’s resource centre in Jobstown and was attended by around 60 people – including a number of community workers and services, which Mojo has created links with.
Alongside Mojo Listens, the men’s shed programme offers men the opportunity to join a social club which also provides the chance to learn new skills and start different hobbies.
Mojo Listens will be available every Wednesday and Thursday from 6.30pm to 9.30pm in St Thomas’s resource centre, Jobstown.
For further details call Danny on 087 7938489.
