Over 400 young and old attend mental health fair

THE Jobstown Connecting For Life Group hosted the second Jobstown World Mental Health Day Health Fair on Thursday in Jobstown Community Centre, Tallaght.

Connecting for Life is Ireland’s national strategy to reduce suicide.

Connecting for Life sets out a vision of an Ireland where fewer lives are lost through suicide, and where communities and individuals are empowered to improve their mental health and wellbeing.

Local mental health organisations and groups participated in the fair and were all given a table and a space to communicate with attendees and display their services to the over 400 attendees present.

This was a life cycle event so all members of the community young and old were invited to attend.

There were numerous workshops on site and music and arts performances took place throughout the day, making it a fantastic opportunity to get mental health services known to the community and to network and develop partnerships in the West Tallaght area.

Speaking after the event, Resource Officer for Suicide Prevention with the HSE, Marsha Williams told The Echo: “We were delighted with how the day went, particularly with the number of members of the local community who turned out. We had amazing support on the day and the feedback we received was incredibly positive.”

“With the Connected for Life program, we’re extremely keen to deal with the problem of suicidality at its core. We’re very much concerned with prevention and reaching people before things become overwhelming.”

Marsha was greatly encouraged by the event’s success and was optimistic about the event’s possibilities to become a positive and vital annual congregation of our ever more essential mental health services.

“This was only our second year, but the impact we have had in such a short time has been immensely gratifying. It all bodes well for years to come and we only intend to get bigger and better.”

For more information on the HSE’s Connecting for life, email Marsha on marsha.williams@hse.ie