Soup and Sandwich Club helps combat social isolation

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St Bartholomew’s Parish, Stranmillis, has been hosting a weekly Soup and Sandwich Club, supported by COI MindMatters and the Benefact Trust.

The club focuses on combating social isolation by creating safe space for people to interact and enjoy each other’s company.

Each week, participants receive a choice of soup and sandwiches followed by tea and biscuits.

A recent meeting was attended by members of the local neighbourhood policing team, a member of the Police and Community Safety Partnership for South Belfast and a Crime Prevention Officer, who gave a talk on personal safety and scam awareness from. All those present left with bags of safety gadget and stickers.

The rector, the Rev Canon Kevin Graham, said: “‘It’s been a great help to us to get the seed funding for our project from Benefact Trust and COI MindMatters. Whilst Stranmillis is usually very busy with students, it also has a significant number of older people who live alone, so it’s lovely to afford them opportunities to meet together, with the club being very popular.”

Kevin added: “Thank you for the foresight of those who secured the funding for this and other projects.’

Following a week’s break for Easter, the Soup and Sandwich Club will be on again each Thursday from 12.30pm.

Lenten Talks, Saint Flannan’s Cathedral Killaloe 2023

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Please see the link below for information on the schedule of Lenten Talks, which start on Tuesday 28th of February, run by St Flannan’s Cathedral, in conjunction with MindMatters COI

There is a really interesting line-up of speakers. All talks, apart from the one on the 7th March 2023, will be held in person at St. Flannan’s Cathedral. The talks will be streamed on their webcam, details of which are on the attached flyer (Click on the link below for a larger version)

Lenten Talks St Flannans

‘Your mind matters’ – Arklow Inch and Kilbride host mental health series

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All are welcome.
‘Your mind matters’ – Arklow Inch and Kilbride host mental health series - All are welcome.

Arklow, Inch and Kilbride Parishes are hosting a short series of talks, to help promote good mental health, to help us understand our own mental health better, and to help reduce the stigma of mental health. These are in association with the Church of Ireland MindMatters initiative, and funded through the generosity of the Benefact Trust.

The talks will take place in St. Saviour’s Hall, Arklow, beginning at 7.30pm

Wednesday 1st February

Mental Wellbeing for Young People

(a talk for adults – anyone with the care of young people)

Presented by Steve Grasham,

Youth Ministry Development Officer (Southern Region),

Church of Ireland Youth Department

 

Wednesday 8th February

“5 Ways to Wellbeing”

Presented by Mental Health Ireland

Due to a change of format, this talk no longer has a limited attendance,

so all are very welcome to come along.

 

Wednesday 22nd February

Mental Health and Faith

Presented by Lydia Monds, Ministry Leader,

The Church’s Ministry of Healing Ireland

 

Wednesday 1st March

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

Presented by Sarah Lawlor, Mental Health Nurse

 

Everyone is very welcome to attend all of these talks. 

For further information, please contact Brigid Barrett

Email: aikchurches@gmail.com or phone 0402 32439

 

Kilternan All Minds Matter

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As part of the Kilternan All Minds Matter programme, they ran a volunteer appreciation evening on 6th January, for everyone who volunteered at the Gathering Grounds Café.  The Gathering Grounds Café is an outreach programme of Kilternan Parish. Their mission is to promote community and belonging, growth and healing. They have an amazing team of volunteers (baristas, bakers, servers, etc.) of all ages who make the programme happen.

Not only do they offer amazing coffee and treats, but they also provide a space for conversation and connection. It’s a space where health and wellbeing are valued. It’s a special place, but its only special because of the people who invest in it.

Mindful of the connection between gratitude and positive mental health, they wanted to say ‘thank you’ to all the volunteers. They provided a meal for volunteers and their significant others. Seventy people of all ages gathered, and a room was provided (with a movie and pizza), for an additional 20 children. They also had a group of transition year students as servers.

On each table there was a jar with messages to encourage conversations about health and wellbeing. The volunteers spend their time and talents filling other’s buckets. This evening of appreciation was an opportunity to fill up theirs.

 

                                               

Mental Health Talks and Walks of Wellbeing

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A series of events to encourage and support positive mental health will take place in the dioceses this spring. Organised by the Revd Garth Bunting, Rural Dean of St Mary and Canon Lesley Robinson, Rural Dean of Fingal, the events are part of the Church of Ireland’s MindMatters project.

Free talks, entitled ‘What is Mental Ill–Health? Signs, symptoms and what to do about them’, will take place in each Rural Deanery. The first, on Wednesday February 8 at 8pm, will take place in St John the Baptist Parish Centre, Seafield Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3. The second will be on Friday March 10 at 8pm in Castleknock Parish Centre, Castleknock Road, Dublin 15. The speaker will be Cariosa Walsh, ICP accredited individual and group therapist and the talks are aimed at resourcing those struggling with their own mental health or who are supporting others who are.

Walks of Wellbeing – gentle guided walks with a focus on friendship and mindfulness, will take place in three different locations in April and May. On Sunday April 2 the Revd David White will lead a walk in St Anne’s Park in Raheny (meet at the Red Stables) from 3pm to 5pm. On Sunday May 7 the Revd Ruth Noble will lead a walk in the Phoenix Park (meet at the Papal Cross) from 3pm to 5pm. On Saturday May 27 the Revd Brian O’Reilly will lead a walk in Glendalough (meet at St John’s Church, Laragh) from 11am to 4pm. Walkers in Glendalough are asked to bring water and a packed lunch.

For more information on any of these events contact 086–0386415/087–9091561.

 

See Change Green Ribbon Impact Report 2022

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Please see below, received from The See Change Team

 

Dear See Change Supporter,

We are excited to announce that our Green Ribbon Impact Report 2022, which highlights how all our supporters helped us celebrate our milestone anniversary 10th Green Ribbon campaign, is now available here. 

Following a difficult few years, it was fantastic to get back to hosting in-person events including our Green Ribbon Dublin and Cork launch events, Together at the Castle event in Mallow, Co Cork and Electric Picnic 2022. We were also delighted to offer weekly online events which further explored ‘shame,’ which was the key theme for this year’s campaign.

We would like to thank everyone involved in this year’s Green Ribbon campaign for all of your hard work and support that has greatly contributed to making this special anniversary campaign a huge success.

Please feel free to share our Green Ribbon Campaign Impact Report 2022 within your network.

If you would like to order hard copies of the report, please email commsofficer@seechange.ie

We look forward to your continued support in 2023!

Kind regards,

The See Change Team

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year

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Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year

 

From all of us on the MindMatters COI project team

 

Mind Matters Conference 2023

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Make a splash for mental health

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Make a splash for better mental health!   What better way to get in the festive spirit than getting out into the fresh air by the coast and making a splash for a great cause.  Simply get a team together and get involved in this great new event!

 

Where: Crawfordsburn Beach

When: 11th December 2022 at 10am

 

Find out more and register:

https://www.amh.org.uk/events/amh-festive-sea-splash-2022/

Seed funding projects supported by MindMatters COI

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A full A–Z summary of the 74 seed funding projects supported by the MindMatters COI mental health initiative is now available at this link.  The projects come from all of our dioceses and may be encouraging for sharing ideas about promoting positive mental health around our island.  We hope that it will be helpful!