During Will to Give Week 22^nd – 26^th February 2021 and beyond, we are encouraging our friends old and new to consider leaving a gift in their Will to support the vital work of Action Mental Health. You really will be leaving a legacy of hope.

One in five of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives, and your support will make a tremendous difference to the people that we support, across Northern Ireland.

Now more than ever, during these very uncertain times, we are planning for the future of the charity. We are adapting and evolving our work to meet the changing needs of the Northern Ireland public. 

Whilst we don’t know what the future holds we do know that the services we provide can and do have life changing impacts for local people. We want those services to be there for future generations.

Writing your Will and keeping it up to date is something we should all do and we ask that after you have considered the needs of family and friends that you consider leaving a gift to Action Mental Health.

By planning your Will and making this special commitment, you will help us as a charity as we look to the years ahead and plan for the changing face of the world we live in.

You can find out more about leaving a gift in your Will and also download our Gifts in Wills leaflet by clicking the link below:

Find out more

You really will be helping to improve the mental health of future generations.

Action Mental Health’s well-being and resilience training for young people has been hailed as integral to an award clinched by the South Eastern Regional College (SERC).

AMH MensSana’s Mindset programme, which is funded by the Public Health Agency, was delivered to students and staff, helping to offset and alleviate some of the particular challenges of the past year. Mindset enables the charity to reach out and support young people and adults in the community, to maintain positive emotional well-being and build resilience, as well as teaching the telltale signs of what to look out for in others’.”

SERC, which has campuses in Bangor, Newtownards and Downpatrick, secured a WorldSkills UK Diversity and Inclusion Heroes Award for Network of the Year. The college received the award in the large employer category in a virtual ceremony on January 28.

The college received the award for its work to ensure an inclusive learning environment across its campuses and in recognition of its commitment to ‘promoting and supporting diverse and inclusive practices and celebrate those making a real difference’.

Pivotal to the award was the delivery to 1500 students of AMH’s Mindset programme, along with a trans-student support service and well-being recovery room.

Karen Hillis, AMH Projects Service Manager commented: “Action Mental Health is delighted to partner with SERC to deliver Mental Health Awareness programmes to both students and staff alike to ensure that student wellbeing is at the forefront of college life during what has been a particularly challenging year. 

“Our ‘Mindset’ programme – funded by Public Health Agency – enables us to reach out and support young people and adults in the community to maintain positive emotional wellbeing and build resilience as well as know what to look out for in others’.”

In 2018, SERC was nominated in Action Mental Health’s inaugural Head First Awards in the category ‘Championing Young People’s Mental Health’. The nomination was secured for the college’s efforts and commitment to improving the emotional well-being and resilience of young people.

Catherine Shipman, Student Engagement Manager, SERC said the award ‘pays tribute to our staff, students, volunteers and community partners for their hard work and dedication in championing equality and diversity for our students at SERC’.

They have been busy bees in AMH New Horizons in Antrim despite lockdown! The AMH team have been out delivering Needle Felting packs to clients.

Each pack contains all the materials and equipment needed to participate in the Zoom Needle Felting classes. Current projects include a toadstool teacup garden and a picture!

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There is lots of evidence about the physical and mental health benefits of taking up a craft like needle felting. Needle felting is very therapeutic and clients say it really relaxes them and clears their minds of any worries they might have (quite useful in the current circumstances), it also gives the group the opportunity to catch up and have a chat.

The process of felting requires focus and concentration, so it has an inbuilt meditative quality.  This tends to bring a peaceful, calming atmosphere to the group as they work. 

One client, who is new to AMH New Horizons, attended the first of a set of needle felting classes and as a result has ordered and received quite a substantial delivery of materials so he can engage in this hobby himself, in his own time at home!

We are so looking forward to seeing the results!!

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Clients at AMH New Horizons Antrim take part in the ESF ‘Working It Out’ project which is part-funded by the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020, Department of Economy and Northern Health & Social Care Trust.  

Share the love this Valentine’s Day and support people in Northern Ireland affected by mental ill health.

Instead of sending flowers or gifts, why not make a donation to Action Mental Health?

You’ll also be helping us to promote positive mental health and resilience to local children and young people.

You can donate here……..

When donating please quote the text ‘SHARE THE LOVE’ in the Reason for Donating Box.

We will then send you an electronic Valentine’s Day card that you can share with your loved one to let them know you’ve made a donation on their behalf.

Now more than ever, we need your support! Please get involved and help Share the Love this Valentine’s day.

For more information – email [email protected]

Grounding is a powerful way to interrupt anxious thoughts in the present moment! It is an ideal way to deal with children’s anxieties and worries. As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is understandable that children have absorbed extra worry from the media and the people around them. Perhaps they have experienced loss or illness in their own family, a school friend or a person they consider as a role model.

Although talking, journaling and other activities such as keeping worry dolls are a tried and tested way to overcome negative feelings, there are other practical ways to stay grounded.

5-4-3-2-1 Senses

Exercising the senses helps children to stay grounded. Depending on age this is an effective means to halt thought streams

• 5 things you see
• 4 things you hear
• 3 things you smell
• 2 things you can touch
• 1 thing you taste

Or try an exercise with just ‘sight’.

• 5 colors I see
• 4 shapes I see
• 3 soft things I see
• 2 people I see
• 1 book I see

ABC in the room

This exercise will get students connected with the here and now and the place where they are right now.

Be a tree

Few things are more grounded or rooted than a tree. “My feet are firmly planted” or “I can feel the ground under my feet.”

Power Hug

Firm pressure is reassuring and great for grounding. “I am safe now.” The child places their left hand on their right shoulder for a tap and then their right hand on their left shoulder for another tap. Then squeeze into a self hug and affirm – tap, tap, squeeze, affirm.

Focus on an object

Noticing colour, texture of various items.

Here & now hand trace

Child traces a hand on paper. They can write down within the outline things they see in their surroundings.

Reorientation

Students list facts about the present moment:

• My name is…
• I am in…
• Today is…
• The season is…
• The weather is…
• I am wearing…

Dress to express

This activity is currently being promoted online to help grounding and bring a bit of fun into Children’s Mental Health Week.

Bringing children into the present moment helps reduce worries about the future and anxieties based on past experiences. Creating a safe environment, building on positive outcomes and helping reduce an escalation into additional worry are all helpful ways to keep children grounded.

As everyone continues to wade through the ongoing lockdown, our children and young people may be starting to get a bit frazzled. Even the most resilient among them are starting to get fed up with the restrictions on their movements and the loss of interaction with their friends.

But as we mark Children’s Mental Health, Action Mental Health New Life Counselling is offering tried and tested tips to help parents support their children and teenagers through the pandemic – tips that may also help parents negotiate these trying times.

The tips are known support mechanisms to help alleviate stress, tension and to promote a greater sense of well-being and resilience.

Encourage your children to:

• Talk to someone they trust. Sharing feelings, fears and anxieties helps to lessen their impact.
• Get out into nature and take notice of what they see around them. Our natural environment offers scientifically proven benefits to our mental health and well-being by reducing stress, tension and anxiety
• Have their own little mini dance party – in their bedroom, living room or even kitchen, like chart-topping Sophie Ellis-Bextor who got the nation dancing with her Kitchen Disco during the first lockdown. Technology will even allow their friends to join them!
• Zone out and away from stress triggers by colouring or doodling – art and creativity are known to alleviate tension
• Laugh out loud, in whatever way gets them giggling
• Start a new hobby
• Maintain a good sleep routine
• Detox from technology for a while
• Volunteer – giving of one’s time is one of the Five Ways to Well-Being and is proven to make people feel good about themselves
• Escape from daily life by reading a good book
• Be kind to yourself and others

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AMH New Life Counselling is an Organisational Member of BACP and adheres to the Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions https://www.bacp.co.uk/events-and-resources/ethics-and-standards/ethical-framework-for-the-counselling-professions/

The Five Ways to Well-Being are important principals which aim to support and foster better well-being and which consequently, have a positive impact on our mental health.

They are: to Give, Take Notice, Keep Learning, Keep Active and Connect. Inherent in many of those key elements is ‘creativity’. It’s an unwritten component of each of them, and illustrates the uniqueness of each individual and how they embrace each of the Five Ways – we use creative thinking to decide.

As we celebrate the theme ‘Express Yourself’ during Children’s Mental Health we are delighted to bring you an amazing story by a Belfast boy who decided to make the most of the lockdown, by ‘expressing himself’ through creative writing.

The Chronicles of Captain Joey

By Matthew Hunter – aged 10

Inspired by his 8-month-old baby brother, Joey

Part One

Boom! went the thunder; flash! went the lightning, making the entire beach go blue. Baby Joey, who just turned eight months old, was in his stroller being pushed by his mother. Along the boardwalk, she said:

“We’d better get home now as this storm is getting worse.”

Joey’s mother only got the words out of her mouth when a bolt of lightning struck Joey’s stroller. The sky turned black and Joey glowed green! There was a deafening silence all around. Joey noticed that his mother was gone!

“Where’s my mother?” he wondered to himself, as a sparkling light shone down from the dark sky and shone right upon baby Joey.

“Come to us, King Joey,” an alien said.

Joey began floating into the green light and noticed a strange flopping in the wind.

“What is that flapping on my back?” he said to himself.

Suddenly, he heard a squeaky, but scary voice, saying:

“Welcome Captain Joey, our Hero of the Seas – we have a special mission for you. You have been selected by the mighty ocean gods from Mars to fight the evil crimes in the ocean. A gang of crazy pirates and crabs have stolen our Aculus and we cannot cross The Milky Way. If do not complete the mission then we will keep your mother – mwaahaahaa!”

So Captain Joey was launched into the Atlantic Ocean with only his dummy, a cape and a bottle of milk with a green substance, which would bring him places he wouldn’t ever think of.

Part Two

Joey came to the Milky Way with a boom and a bang! He burst into Milky Way with a swoosh and took out the guards. Joey took a swig of the green substance and felt power in his eyes – Joey got laser eyes! He opened some massive doors and found a fellow baby saying “help me, help me,” so Joey used his laser eyes to cut the ropes to free him, and gave him the special milk, and said: “What’s your name?”

“Ronan” said the baby. Joey asked him: “Would you like to be recruited?”

“Hell Yeah!” said Ronan, and they walked miles and miles to get to the aculus, when they stumbled upon the Milky Monster.

“Roar!” said the Monster. Boom! Flash! Bang! Went Ronan in his first battle.

They walked for miles and miles and miles more to find the main boss to find the aculus. They stumbled upon their greatest boss in the planet and had the greatest fight of their lives and used the last of their powers, shooting one big laser beam into the monster. It exploded with goo and the aculus was inside him.

They walked an amazing number of miles, back to base and gave the aculus back to the aliens, who then gave them back their mums.

The End… Or Is It?