See Change, the National Health Stigma Reduction Partnership, works to change minds about mental health difficulties and to end the stigma associated with them. Their objective is to challenge people’s understanding and perceptions of mental health by encouraging people to talk about mental health.
The organisation works in partnership with over 100 organisations and 40 ambassadors to create a community driven social movement. We as an organisation are proud to partner with See Change in the Green Ribbon Campaign, which is now in its 7th year and runs for the month of May. Demand for green ribbons exceeded 500,000 in 2018 and it is anticipated that this number will be even higher for 2019.
To celebrate and mark the 2019 Green Ribbon Campaign, HSE EVE hosted a variety of events to get conversations started about mental health…they ranged from coffee mornings, to art installations in the National Gallery of Ireland and St. Anne’s Park, we were pounding the pavements distributing ribbons in local towns and shopping centres, there was an organisational ‘Walk in the Park’ event, a presentation of certificates by the Irish Advocacy Network and even a visit from the Lord Mayor of Clondalkin to Phoenix Clubhouse.
Here’s a quick snapshot of some of these events that took place around HSE EVE.
Goirtin’s Conversation HUB: On the 15th May, Goirtin hosted an event in St Laurence’s Chapel which is located on the TUD, Grangegorman Campus. The aim of the event was to get people talking about mental health and to do this each table was laid with a menu of topics linked to mental health. Participants were encouraged to have conversations with different people. The event was well attended by the local community, with representatives from the local Gardaí, businesses, educational providers and local residents, all of whom were engaged in lively conversations about mental health. Read more @ https://goirtineve.wordpress.com/2019/05/29/conversation-hub-2/
Platinum Clubhouse & Harvest HUB: Platinum Clubhouse held a variety of events to mark the campaign. Members and staff embarked on a campaign to hand out green ribbons to passers-by in the local community on three separate days. Members and staff spread the word about positive mental health and the need to stamp out stigma and handed out ribbons and badges to over 1,000 people. Read more @ https://platinumclubhouse.wordpress.com/2019/05/30/green-ribbon/
Platinum Clubhouse and Harvest HUB in Kildare town joined forces for a programme called ‘Music in Mind’ which was run over 8 weekswith Sive. The grand finale of which was a musical performance held within the walled gardens of Harvest HUB. Family and members of the local community were invited to take part in the celebrations of the day. This was a really enjoyable project for all of those involved, with local member C Mooney, reciting her own poem to celebrate Green Ribbon. Read more @ https://www.facebook.com/harvestcentrehub
Suaimhneas Clubhouse: Suaimhneas Clubhouse held an event called ‘Untangle Your Thoughts’ in St Anne’s Park, Raheny which was opened by Seán Haughey, a Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin Bay North. Dublin City Council kindly gave permission for Suaimhneas to use a small section of the park for the event.
The installation consisted of two sections of trees – one chaotically decorated with green ribbons and string which represented tangled thoughts. The other section was decorated in a calmer, thoughtful way representing untangled thoughts.
During the event tags were given to each member of the audience who were asked to write one negative thought they may have about themselves and place it on the tangled ‘Negitivitrees’. The audience were then asked to imagine themselves through the eyes of someone else and write down something positive about themselves on another tag and to place it in the un-tangled ‘Positivitrees’ section.
The aim of this event was to promote the power of positivity. Perhaps, if we all got into the habit of shutting down negative thoughts as they enter our heads by saying something nice to ourselves maybe….just maybe we might actually start to believe it! Read more @ https://suaimhneasclubhouse.wordpress.com/2019/05/09/green-ribbon-2019-untangle-your-thoughts/
EVE Castleview HUB: A celebration of Art in the Community at the National Gallery of Ireland: The exhibition was opened by Minister Finian McGrath TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for Disability Issues, on May 9th and ran until June 23rd. Participants from Castleview HUB worked with Gallery artists and facilitators to develop a variety of pieces that were intertwined with quotes displayed in the galleries ‘Millennium Wing Studio’.
The launch provided an opportunity to reflect and discuss on a number of topics for example, what recovery is, mental health & well-being and the power of art. Minister McGrath commented that, “people are more than their mental health conditions and that the individuality expressed in each piece speaks to the diversity, creativity and personality of each artist”.
Read more @ https://evecastleview.wordpress.com/2019/05/16/a-celebration-of-art-in-the-community/
Phoenix Clubhouse, Cairdeas Clubhouse & Larine HUB: Phoenix Clubhouse, Cairdeas Clubhouse and Larine Hub hit the streets in their respective areas to hand out green ribbons and spread the word about positive mental health awareness. Phoenix travelled around the village of Clondalkin and took time to chat to local people and businesses about the need to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health difficulties. Cairdeas Clubhouse handed out ribbons, leaflets and booklets about what they do in Clubhouse to passers-by. Whilst Larine, gave a talk and handed out ribbons in their local men’s sheds group. The aim of starting conversations about mental health was well and truly achieved. Read more @ https://phoenixclubhouseblog.wordpress.com/2019/05/30/green-ribbon-promotion-in-clondalkin/
Phoenix and Cairdeas Clubhouse also held coffee mornings to promote the campaign and invited lots of local organisations and businesses….Phoenix Clubhouse even had a visit from the Lord Mayor of Clondalkin! Read more @ https://cairdeasclubhouse.wordpress.com/2019/05/23/green-ribbon-coffee-morning-2019/
Larine also used the campaign as an opportunity to celebrate the completion of a Self-Advocacy Course by participants, which was delivered by the Irish Advocacy Network IAN. Participants were awarded their certificates by both Jim Walsh of IAN and Catherine Brogan of Mental Health Ireland.
EVE Cherryfield HUB: Cherryfield HUB set up a stand in Jervis Street Chopping Centre to hand out green ribbons and spread the word about positive mental health awareness. Cherryfield participants and staff handed out ribbons, leaflets and booklets about what they do in Cherryfield along with promotional material relating to mental health and the services that EVE provide to passers-by. This was a very successful day, because not only did the participants feel that they were doing something worthwhile and positive, Cherryfield found that family members were able to talk to another person who understood them and their difficulties when dealing with mental health issues in their loved ones.
Conaí Clubhouse Open Day: Conaí Clubhouse hosted an open day in the Beech Park Allotments, Beavers Park, Clonsilla, on Wednesday 15th May from 11.30am until 1.30pm to have a chat over a cuppa and snacks to ‘get people talking’ about mental health. Read more @ https://conaiclubhouse.wordpress.com/2018/05/08/green-ribbon-open-day-2018/
EVE Connect, Walk in the Park: May 21st saw the EVE Connect Walk & Talk event take place in the Phoenix Park. This walk was a 2km event and attracted a large number of participants from across all EVE services. Participants were encouraged to wear green and handed out green ribbons to passers-by. Afterwards, representatives from each centre took time to chat to each other, soak up some summer sunshine and have a picnic. It was a really enjoyable day and we hope to expand on this next year. Thanks to all of the organisers from the EVE Connect Committee. Read more @ https://hubnewhorizon.wordpress.com/2019/05/22/green-ribbon-event/ and https://www.facebook.com/1742111926109249/photos/a.1836929696627471/2296928760627560/?type=3&theater.
