Staff old and current, at AMH New Horizons in Newry and Mourne celebrate 25 years of the vital community service.
Clients and staff from Action Mental Health (AMH) New Horizons were celebrating recently with a BBQ in the Serenity Garden at their base in Enniskillen.
AMH New Horizons Fermanagh was established in 1991 and was initially based in Enniskillen town centre. In 1992 the service relocated to its current site in Cherrymount Road, Drumcoo, Enniskillen.
AMH New Horizons Fermanagh works in the community to improve the health and well-being of people, changing the lives of those living with mental ill-health and promoting resilience and well-being. Action Mental Health has grown to be the largest mental health charity in Northern Ireland.
The project is part funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy, and the Western Health and Social Care Trust. The development of the Serenity Garden was taken forward by the Time Out Programme funded by the Big Lottery through the Western Regional Alcohol Programme.
Caroline Ferguson, Service Manager, has been with AMH New Horizons Fermanagh since it first opened its doors.
Reflecting on the past 25 years Caroline said: “It’s wonderful to reflect back on the past 25 years and to see how the service has grown and developed. We opened our doors here in 1991 with 12 clients and today we have more than 150 people availing of our services though AMH New Horizons and the Men’s Shed.
“Our staff team, several of whom have been with us since 1991, are enthusiastic and excited about continuing to deliver high quality, innovative programmes to local people.”
John Mallon, (right) Axiom’s Vice President of Client Service Operations, Europe, Orla Harris, (centre) Manager of Facilities and Procurement, Europe, present their cheque to Callum Clark, AMH Fundraising Officer.
A global legal firm’s Belfast office has raised vital funds for Action Mental Health (AMH), by donating the proceeds of its annual summer ballot to the charity. The legal services firm, based in Belfast, raised £498 for AMH through its annual summer ballot which was this year held at Riddell Hall, and which also featured a family fun day. A number of local businesses donated a range of generous prizes for the ballot in support of the cause.
The theme of this year’s eight week Programme was ‘Give My Head Peace’. The title was selected to help make the serious issue of mental health more approachable and engaging for team members. The ballot followed the firm’s recent participation in two Action Mental Health initiatives –Personal Resilience Training and Mental Health First Aid, two wide-reaching schemes designed to address mental health among the community.
The two schemes were delivered by AMH Works, a mental health training consultancy service which provides quality mental health training programmes across Northern Ireland for employers to support healthy, resilient workplaces.
Orla Harris, Axiom Manager of Real Estate & Facility Operations, explained the benefits AMH has introduced to the workforce. “We want team members to have the skills to not only recognise stress but to have the tools and support to manage it,” she said.
“We chose AMH because they have a local understanding of mental health issues in Northern Ireland. AMH also offered tried and tested solutions to meet our needs, like the Personal Resilience Training and Mental Health First Aid.
“These options were presented in a very informative and engaging way so it was an easy decision for us to proceed with AMH as our beneficiary.”
Some 73% of Axiom staff participated in the voluntary Personal Resilience training, learning techniques to identify and tackle stress, including an introduction to mindfulness training. Management say they’ve already seen the difference the programme has made on employees, with feedback being described as ‘extremely positive’. As a result, mindfulness sessions have continued to take place twice a week on site, while three yoga classes each week have also been introduced for staff.
Employees have even been given the chance to express themselves creatively, being offered new writing sessions – ‘Write to Awaken’. AMH’s influence has further prompted Axiom to continue to offer similar support in the future, with four members of staff being trained in Mental Health First Aid.
The BBC NI Community Life appeal featuring Action Mental Health was broadcast on Sunday – 3rd September – at 3.15pm on BBC One and was repeated on Monday at 11.50pm BBC One and Wednesday at 1pm on BBC Two.
The AMH Comms Team spent two full days with the BBC in our Fermanagh service filming a range of activities and interviewing lots of our clients from New Horizons, The Boost Project, The Men’s Shed and the Warrior Women project! We also filmed our MensSana team working with pupils from Holy Trinity Primary School and Enniskillen Royal Grammar School. Father Brian D’Arcy, a friend and supporter of AMH very kindly agreed to appear as our host.
If you missed it or wish to see it again – here it is !!
Many thanks to everyone who took part and to the team in Fermanagh who were so welcoming. Many thanks to the pupils and staff of Holy Trinity and the Enniskillen Royal Grammar School.
The Northern Area Mental Health Initiative is an innovative and exciting new project led by Cookstown and Western Shores Area Network (CWSAN), in partnership with Action Mental Health and Nexus NI, which will deliver free mental health awareness and resilience training, and internet safety, sexual abuse and exploitation education to children and young people aged 8 to 25 years, and their key contacts.
The Initiative is funded by the Northern Ireland Executive’s Social Investment Fund (SIF) for two years, until March 2019, and will be delivered across the Northern Social Investment Zone which broadly mirrors the Northern Health and Social Care Trust boundary.
Training on offer:
Mental Health Awareness 8 – 11 years, 11 – 25 years
Confidence Building & Self Esteem 11 – 25 years
Exam Stress 11 – 25 years
Body Image 11 – 25 years
Bullying Awareness 11 – 25 years
Personal Resilience 18+
Internet Safety, Sexual Abuse & Exploitation Education 11 – 16, 16 – 25, 18 +
Target areas:
Coleraine
Newtownabbey
Carrickfergus
Ballymena
Antrim
Larne
For more information or to book training E: [email protected] or T: 028 9442 5356.
AMH New Horizons Derriaghy will be hosting a special event on 12th October in the Island Arts Centre in Lisburn.
AMH is recruiting volunteers for the annual Granite Challenge taking place on Sunday 8 October.
Reach new heights for Action Mental Health by signing up to Abseil Europa on 24 September.
