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Welcome to Mental Health Reform's round up of news & events this March.
Please forward this email to anybody interested in reforming mental health services and help us build a movement for change.
In this edition:
New Email your TD campaign action
MHR public meetings in April and May
Update on mental health staffing
and other news...
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New campaign action
No more staffing delays! Mental Health Reform is asking our supporters to email their local TDs to urge them to keep pressure on the Government to honour its commitment to appoint new staff for community mental health services this year. In Budget 2013, an additional €35 million was promised for community mental health services this year. However, the Government had promised €35 million for these services last year and the bulk of the funding was not spent. Our communities need comprehensive, modern services now more than ever. Ask your TD to help to ensure that the 891 staff promised are delivered without delay.
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Women's Mini Marathon
We're still signing up fundraisers for the Flora Women's Mini Marathon on 3rd June to raise funds to support the work of the organisation. If you'd like to join in, remember that online registration is now open. You can link to us via our My Charity Mental Health Reform page where you can set up a fundraising page for online donations. Contact MHR's Lara Kelly on lkelly@mentalhealthreform.ie or (01) 6121422 for more information or to order our fundraising toolkit. Thanks for your support!
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Update on mental health staffing
We've been keeping you posted in recent months on the situation regarding the appointment of multidisciplinary staff for community mental health teams. These staff include much needed psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and social care workers - to work alongside doctors and nurses in community mental health teams. 414 staff were promised for 2012 and a further 477 staff have been promised for 2013. To date, of the 414 staff for last year, 307 have been appointed, and we are now putting pressure on for this year's staff to be appointed without the delays we saw last year.
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Oireachtas Cross Party Group
The Oireachtas Cross Party Group (CPG) on Mental Health, for which MHR and Amnesty International Ireland act as secretariat, held a briefing for TDs and Senators in Leinster House in March on the topic of Building resilience locally. Deputies Maureen O'Sullivan and Robert Troy hosted the event on behalf of the CPG. Speakers included John Evoy, CEO of the Irish Men's Sheds Movement, Dr. Lucia Carragher of Dundalk IT, who presented research on the growing phenomenon of men's sheds, along with Seán Potts and Ger Brennan of the Gaelic Players' Association, who spoke on their involvement with youth mental health through Headstrong. Our thanks to all of the speakers for an informative briefing. |
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MHR Public Meetings, April & May
Mental Health Reform invites people in the Dublin, Wexford and Mayo areas with an interest in mental health services to attend public meetings to discuss good quality mental health services and a recovery approach. The meetings will be held from 2:00pm to 4:30pm on:
Wednesday 10th of April at the Carmelite Centre, 56 Aungier Street, Dublin 2
Monday 29th of April at Wexford Town Library, Mallin Street, Wexford
Tuesday 21st of May at GMIT, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
As numbers are limited, please confirm your attendance by calling 01 612 1422 or by emailing us on rsvp@mentalhealthreform.ie and stating which meeting you would like to attend. All venues are wheelchair accessible.
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New Monthly Member Blog
This month, we begin the first in a new series of monthly member blogs, in which Mental Health Reform members write about a mental health issue as it relates to the work of their organisation. This month’s blog comes to us from the Irish Refugee Council on the topic of mental health among asylum seekers in Ireland.
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MHR Letter to the Editor
Mental Health Reform's letter to The Irish Times was published on 2nd March, and asked the question: "Mental health: are we listening?". In the letter, Orla Barry points out that while many improvements have been made in recent years, the need for a more humane, person-focused service is still the consistent message from the many people Mental Health Reform consults with across the country.
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