Printer-friendly version

Headstrong was delighted to welcome young people from Galway and Roscommon’s Youth Advisory Panel’s to the Croke Park Hotel last weekend.  They joined some members of the Headstrong Youth Advisory Panel and our Youth Engagement Officer James for training, networking and information sharing. 

Kicking off bright and early Saturday morning, the 27 young people received communications training from our Director of Communications Micheline Egan. This training will go a long way in their support of Headstrong and their local Jigsaw projects in changing how Ireland thinks about youth mental health. Speaking about the day, James described it “as really interesting to watch young people, of different ages, from different parts of the country, coming together to learn how to effectively communicate their thoughts on youth mental health. It was also refreshing to see young people who were quiet at the start of the day, actually stand up in front of their peers and present to the group.”

With lunch out of the way, Youth Advisory Panel members from Galway and Roscommon took part in an advocacy workshop with James. A theme which emerged was the importance of having a voice to represent positive mental health. While they have many groups that they advocate to, the main one is to other young people, their peers.

Some young people who are part of Headstrong’s National Youth Advisory Panel spent the afternoon participating in an induction Headstrong were hosting for the Gaelic Players Association. This session with the GPA was attended by players from Monaghan, Armagh, Limerick and Cork. This is part of a new alliance between the Gaelic Players Association and Headstrong where 25 county players have come forward to act as Youth Mental Health advocates in their communities and are taking part in a mental health literacy programme with us. The YAP spoke to the players about their role and involvement in Headstrong and how significant this new partnership with the GPA is.

The day finished off in style with Nuala, Headstrong’s Think Big Co-ordinator, giving an information session on Think Big. The session was to work with the young people to develop possible ideas for Think Big that they might have. And to empower them to spread the word about Think Big and how to get involved.

We want to say a huge ‘Thank You!’ to everyone who attended, and the staff from Jigsaw projects and Headstrong for all the hard work that went into the day.