Jigsaw kicks off new youth mental health workshops with Donegal Town FC

As part of a new initiative to promote mental health within Donegal Town Football Club, the club launched Jigsaw’s new 'Together for our mental health' workshop in the county.

The workshops are aligned to actions in Jigsaw’s strategic plan Together and were held in the St Patricks Parish Centre in Donegal Town last Friday which was attended by over 40 parents, guardians and coaches.

As Ireland’s leading youth mental charity, Jigsaw are committed to advancing young people’s mental health and to developing supportive communities by providing a range of early intervention primary care services and supports across the Republic of Ireland.  

Raymond Jordan Chairperson of Donegal Town Football Club said: “As a club our members are our priority and we are taking a proactive approach in promoting good mental health and awareness as well as physical health through our activities.

“The club has nearly 400 members with 280 of them underage and we are very conscious of the challenges that each of them and indeed all of us face but in particular our younger people aged 12 to 25 years.

“I want to thank Damien and the team at Jigsaw for assisting the club and for the tremendous work that they do throughout the country. We look forward to working with Jigsaw who will be facilitating workshops in the coming weeks with the younger people in the club.”

Damien Coyle, Jigsaw Service Manager, added: “Jigsaw Donegal are delighted to be embarking on this collaborative journey with Donegal Town Football Club.

“In my initial conversation with the club, they placed an emphasis on developing a shared youth mental health language between coaches, players and parents. This put the club to the forefront of our thinking when selecting a club to pilot our new adult and young people workshops.

“I’d like to thank the adult participants that have taken part in in workshops to date, you are leading the way for the young people in the club.”

With the support of a range of public and private funders, Jigsaw delivers free mental health services and supports for young people and adults including:  

-delivering free, one-to-one, therapeutic sessions with young people (aged 12 to 25) in-person across 14 regional hubs and online via phone and video  

-offering community-based programmes aimed at better informing, supporting, educating and empowering young people and those around them, in places where they live, learn, work and play  

-undertaking pioneering research and robust evaluation leading to transformative evidence providing a wide range of online mental health supports, services and programmes through jigsaw.ie