AMH New Horizons Derriaghy clients have been participating in a well-being activity class centred around Who, What, Where and Why, in relation to our planet and spreading out into our Solar System.
The class was a huge success and the last session ended with a trip to the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium.
Feedback from clients has been very positive and everyone is excited for the Level 2 follow on course starting in January 2018, titled ‘Into the Universe’.
AMH New Horizons, part funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy, assists adults recovering from mental ill-health. A range of person centred programmes are offered in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere to support recovery.
Ian visiting AMH New Horizons Fermanagh with staff Sean Connolly, Colin Brennan and Sean Magee.
Ian Creighton, Chairman of Enniskillen Round Table has nominated Action Mental Health as his chosen charity for his year as Chair.
Ian said, “Mental health is a topic that is very close to my heart and so it was an easy decision to decide to fundraise for Action Mental Health. They do great work across Northern Ireland and here in Enniskillen through their New Horizons service. We already have lots of activities planned for the year ahead which we encourage the public to get involved with.
“I would like to recognise the massive effort of Mark Edwards, a Round Table member who organised his annual football match on 16 July, through Blakes of the Hollow Bar in Enniskillen, with a fantastic £1,665 raised.
“On 9 September, 11 members of the Round Table will be taking part in Bray Hell and Back, Ireland’s toughest physical and mental endurance challenge. Over seven kilometres, challengers face man-made obstacles and the natural terrain to test their endurance.
“World Mental Health Day is on 10 October and we have several things planned for that week. A street collection is organised for 11 October, while a number of bands will be playing in Blakes of the Hollow on 13 October. The bands include Midnight Graffiti and The Hand Me Downs, with admission to the Live Lounge £5.00. I would like to thank the bands for volunteering their time on the night.
Jonathan Smyth, Fundraising & Communications Manager, Action Mental Health said, “We are delighted that Ian and Enniskillen Round Table have chosen to support Action Mental Health. The funds they raise will go towards helping those who need it most. Support from organisations such as Round Table is vital in ensuring we can continue to change the lives of those living with mental ill-health as well as helping to build resilience in younger generations.”
Action Mental Health was in attendance at Belfast Pride on Saturday, walking in the parade and also providing information in the Recharge Zone at the Rainbow Project offices.
Coleraine faced Linfield, with Linfield winning 3-1.
The game at the Oval, Belfast, benefited Action Mental Health as the nominated charity of NI Football League sponsor Danske Bank.
Our thanks go to the NI Football League, Linfield, Coleraine and also to Glentoran for hosting. A special thanks to all our volunteer collectors for helping out and to everyone who contributed on the day.
On his fifty-fifth birthday in 2012, Eugene Winters set himself a challenge, a marathon challenge. He decided to complete the daunting task of running 300 official marathons in 300 weeks.
Oggie, as he’s known to his friends, hails from Portstewart and has always been active but had never attempted running 26.2 miles before. So, aged 55 he sailed through his first marathon in Belfast. Almost 300 weeks later, countless pairs of running shoes and many miles tread, he has reached his goal of 300 marathons. In fact, it only took him 270 weeks to achieve!
Some of Oggie’s highlights include running 85 marathons in 2014, 61 in 2015 and a massive 95 in 2016. The remarkable runner has completed all the ‘Marathon Majors’ – the London, Boston, New York, Chicago, Berlin and Tokyo marathons. He twice ran 10 marathons in 10 days and also took part in the Hell of the Hill Endurance event which involves running five of the toughest marathons in the UK, in five days. He’s also been a regular ‘back to back’, ‘treble’ and ‘quad’ runner, meaning running marathons two, three & four days in a row. In 2016 he successfully ran the Victoria Park endurance event in Belfast, running 100 miles in 24 hours.
Eugene is a member of several elite marathon clubs around the world including the Marathon Globetrotters, Marathon Club Ireland, the 100 Marathon Club, UK and the Super Marathon Club, Italy. His best time was the recent Newry marathon which he finished in an impressive 3 hours 37 minutes, enabling him to qualify for next year’s London Marathon in the ‘Good for Age’ Category.
Describing his achievement Oggie said, “It was very tough going at times, and I struggled to complete some of the marathons. I ran through injury at a few events and I had to rely on my own mental strength and toughness to get me through.
“I hope that my efforts will maybe inspire other people to go out and do something active. I firmly believe exercising and keeping active can help not just our physical health but our mental health too. I started out at 15 ½ stone and I’m now down to 11 ½ stone, feeling much better both physically and mentally.
“When I had completed the 300 marathons in 270 weeks, beating my own challenge of 300 weeks I thought what better way to celebrate than to donate some money to Action Mental Health, to help support the vital work they do across Northern Ireland.”
Jonathan Smyth, Fundraising & Communications Manager, Action Mental Health said, “Oggie got in touch with us to pass on his really generous donation and I was completely staggered at what I heard! Everyone in the office was in awe of his achievement. What he has accomplished is truly amazing.
“We all know that taking part in some form of physical activity is good for our bodies, but at Action Mental Health we also highlight the advantages it can have on our mental and emotional well-being too. Oggie’s strength of character and tenacity is a real inspiration to us all and we are very grateful that he chose to donate to Action Mental Health.”
Having struggled with panic disorder and agoraphobia for the past four years and have completed a course in CBT in Lagan Valley Hospital, the next progressive step in my recovery was attending AMH New Horizons Derriaghy. Having not left home for so long, I had lost all my confidence in myself and my ability to interact with others in society. Although extremely apprehensive about attending, learning that a place like AMH New Horizons actually existed gave me great relief and comfort and a feeling that I was not alone.
From the first day I arrived, I was greeted by the staff with warmth, understanding and respect. The relaxed atmosphere and the people put me at ease and I was introduced to the classes and activities I could avail of. This gave me great hope for myself and for my future, something I haven’t had or felt in a long time.
So far I have been attending a Personal Development pathway at AMH New Horizons that covers self-esteem, stress management and many other topics that I am looking forward to covering as the course progresses. I have been enjoying this greatly. The open and welcoming nature of the tutor and talking to other clients, gives me a lot of comfort and better understanding and I feel less afraid of my mental health.
On one of my initial visits to the centre, I was invited to join the ukulele group. As I have no previous experience of anything musical I was quite apprehensive about this, but with the welcoming encouragement of the tutors I decided to give it a go. It has been surprisingly beneficial for my confidence and greatly helps with my anxiety management.
I have enjoyed it so much that I bought my own ukulele for home use which has gave me a positive and fun coping mechanism for my anxiety, something that I wouldn’t have had without AMH New Horizons. This has given me confidence to try other new things and for the first time in a long time I have felt excited about doing so.
AMH New Horizons has been a god send to me and also my family. It is slowly but surely giving me my confidence and social life back, something which I will be forever grateful for.
-ET
AMH New Horizons assists adults recovering from mental ill-health. A range of person centred programmes are offered in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere to support recovery. Find out more about AMH New Horizons.
The ‘Working it Out’ project is part funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy.
Coleraine v Linfield, The Oval, Belfast, 5 August 2017, Kick-Off: 3pm
Action Mental Health is delighted to be the nominated beneficiary for this year’s Charity Shield.
The reigning Danske Bank Premiership champions, Linfield will face last season’s Irish Cup finalists Coleraine in the Action Mental Health Charity Shield on 5 August.
The game at the Oval, Belfast, will benefit Action Mental Health as the nominated charity of NIFL sponsor Danske Bank.
Linfield and Coleraine will be hoping to commence the season in a positive fashion in advance of their opening Danske Bank Premiership fixtures on Saturday, 12 August 2017.
David Babington, AMH Chief Executive said, “Events such as the Charity Shield are of vital importance in raising awareness of mental health in Northern Ireland and the gesture from players, clubs and supporters is greatly appreciated throughout our organisation.”
Andrew Johnston, NIFL Managing Director, is delighted that Action Mental Health will benefit from gate receipts generated from the game. He said: “To be able to support such a fantastic charity as Action Mental Health is very important for the NIFL. This game will not only be a success on the pitch as both Linfield and Coleraine will want to put in a good performance ahead of the Danske Bank Premiership kick off a week later, but off the pitch the match should raise many thousands of pounds for AMH. We are delighted to be able to raise awareness of mental health and the issues it presents, especially within football, and for the NIFL to be able to raise so much money for charity just shows how worthwhile this match is for everyone involved.”
Entry to the game will be £8 adult, £5 for 12-16 years-old, U12s enjoy free admission.
Our thanks goes to everyone involved and best of luck to both teams!
AMH New Horizons Fermanagh staff when the service opened, along with representatives from the WHSCT.
Clients and staff from AMH New Horizons Fermanagh were celebrating this week 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.
Clients enjoying the BBQ celebrating 25 years
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.”
The AMH Charity Shield took place on 5 August.
Having struggled with panic disorder and agoraphobia for the past four years and have completed a course in CBT in Lagan Valley Hospital, the next progressive step in my recovery was attending AMH New Horizons Derriaghy. Having not left home for so long, I had lost all my confidence in myself and my ability to interact with others in society. Although extremely apprehensive about attending, learning that a place like AMH New Horizons actually existed gave me great relief and comfort and a feeling that I was not alone.
Coleraine v Linfield, The Oval, Belfast, 5 August 2017, Kick-Off: 3pm
