Tattoo Day event to help raise funds for suicide prevention drop-in service HOPE

Joanne McLoughlin from HOPE raising awareness of the annual Tattoo Day in St Aengus Community Centre in Tallaght today, Good Friday, which is now in its 14th year of the annual event. Updated April 3rd at 15:35pm.

 

A ‘Tattoo Day’ will be held at St Aengus Community Centre in Tallaght on Good Friday from 9am throughout the day in aid of local charity HOPE.

Tattoo artist Derek Kelly will be present on the day to ink up anyone as part of three artists offering their services, and tea, coffee and snacks will also be available for those who wish to drop in.

HOPE, which stands for Hold On Pain Eases, is a suicide prevention drop-in listening service based in Tallaght Village and has been the benefactor of the Tattoo Day in Tymon North, Tallaght over the last number of years.

HOPE was set up by Mary McLoughlin in 2013, after the loss of her sister and nephew to suicide.

A raffle is also held on the day of the event and goods are expected to be sold by the door of the community centre as well.

Co-organiser Patrick Fay told The Echo that the day is simple: turn up and get tatted or just have a chat with the people there.

Fay said: “The day consists of people turning up and queueing up, picking a tattoo, having a cup of tea, a good chat, queueing up, getting their tattoo, buying raffle tickets…

“…Whatever money we raise and whatever costs of tattoos from Derek’s side, the rest goes to Mary and she’s able to pay the rent out of it for the year, or get more people trained up to be able to talk to people who need it.

The event is being organised by a committee composed of Patrick Fay, Catherine Fay, Jennifer Fay, Sharon Barrett and Carol Gaffney.

The first tattoo day for charity in Tallaght was held in 2013, in response to three suicides of young men in the area.

The committee wanted to respond and provide an event that would engage young people for a good cause, and to raise awareness of mental health services.

Patrick noted that offering a helping hand to services like HOPE is important for the community.

“It’s definitely needed. It’s a weight off Mary’s shoulders. The less money she has to spend on stuff, the more people she can get trained up, the more people are on the telephone, the more people are in the building when someone knocks on the door.”

HOPE operates a drop-in service at Courthouse Square and can be contacted on 089 610 5476, as well as through their Facebook page.