Youth mental health to the fore in annual D10 Be Well week launch

By Maurice Garvey

THE annual D10 Be Well Week takes place from October 10-14 – with a range of activities scheduled to support mental health at different venues in the community.

Family Matters ABC in Ballyfermot-Chapelizod Partnership, received funding through the community Foundation of Ireland to host the week and are working in partnership with D10 Be Well.

The focus of the week is to promote youth mental health through a variety of activities and initiatives.

A directory of online mental health supports for young people will be launched at Cherry Orchard Equine Centre on Monday, October 10 at 12 noon

Ciara Beatley from Kylemore College, and a member of the Youth Advisory Panel said: “Mental health affects how we think, feel and act. It’s a vital key to our day-to-day living at every stage of life. We need to change the culture around this topic, and make it okay to talk about what’s not okay.”

Bernie Laverty, Family Matters ABC Coordinator, said: “Be Well Week highlights that youth mental health is all our business – parents, young people themselves, schools and community services, together with specialist youth mental health services. It is imperative that we find strong networks of support and also strive to ensure we have timely and well-resourced interventions when young people require additional mental health needs.”

A fun run and music day on Friday, October 14, has been organised and planned by young people from Familibase, which aims to promote responsible scrambler/horse ownership.

The fun run starts at 12 noon at the Orchard Community Centre on Friday, October 14.

Other activities include awareness talks hosted by Jigsaw in secondary schools, and mental health forums/workshops for youths/parents.