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LÁMHA: Life Affirming Mental Health Action is community wellness initiative based in the West Donegal Gaeltacht. Our work to date has involved
- Devised Beoga, a teen wellness program. Piloted in Pobalscoil Gaoth Dobhair, Spring/Summer 2017
- Co-hosting a holistic event at Ionad Teampail Chróine as part of the Mary from Dungloe festival. All funds raised went to Donegal Mountain Rescue.
- Radio appearances on Rosses Radio in October 2016 and Feb 2017.
- PHEW -a mental wellness awareness-raising series of events ran in Annagry, Ranafast and Mullaghduff in October 2016. Guest speakers included Majella O'Donnell. Supported by DLDC.
(see PHEW press release below.)
If it takes a community to raise a child, but what does it take to raise a community?
PHEW! : Positive Health and Emotional Well-being
Every day we hear people lamenting the death of community spirit. Though people might blame economics, or maybe social media, in truth, Donegal is an exception, and community spirit is alive and well in the north west!. When our neighbour gets sick we visit or send messages of support. When a family is grieving we gather together and offer a wall of comfort, a hot meal and a shoulder to cry on, and when times are good we rejoice and celebrate together. Our communities are alive and kicking, with and without economics or social media.
But one thing is lacking, and that is our ability to talk about and offer support to those with mental ill health. Until recently mental ill health was an unspoken sickness. The word 'menta'l made us think of institutions and draconian treatment methods. But thankfully the tides are changing, and increasingly we are opening our hearts to friends, or they to us. Celebrities like Bressie and our own Majella O'Donnell who have bravely spoken about their own issues have caused ripples in our silence and been the positive inspiration our communities need.
However, we still need to embrace our own mental health. We need to realise it is not something to fix when broken, instead, it is something we should nurture when healthy. We should make care of our mental health a daily routine, part of our health check and something we talk about habitually to our family, friends and neighbours.
Lámha: LIFE AFFIRMING MENTAL HEALTH ACTION is the brainchild of two local mothers Linda Uí Ghallchóir (PHEW Coordinator and Mental Health Advocate) and Maria Coleman (Yoga Instructor 'Comhcheol Arts and Wellness'). These ladies got together and decided it is time to build solid wellness foundations from the 'bottom up', within small communities.
Their aim is to research the potential for community groups to positively advocate for mental wellness and to make training available to support mental-health awareness within grassroots initiatives. Lámha will also do workshops with children and adults aimed at building resilience and coping skills through yoga, art, mindfulness and music, as well as collaborate with established groups and charities working locally and nationally in the field of mental health.
Lamha's core mission is to ensure communities start building an open dialogue on positive mental health, and they believe Donegal, with its community focus, can become a county blazing a trail into a new dawn of individual and social wellness.
PHEW! Positive Health and Emotional Wellbeing is a series of events (October 8-9th 2016) that aimed to create a movement of positive attitudes towards our own mental health, open dialogue to speak about mental ill health and help families and friends access information on the provision of services available in the community and accessible in the county.
The weekend included workshops, talks and demonstrations from Majella O'Donnell/Donegal Mind Wellness, Bill Vaughan/Mental Health Ireland, Susan McFeely/Shine, Joanne Lindsay Butler/OURganic Gardens, Iain Miller/Unique Ascent, Liam Donnelly/West Donegal Mental Health, Marian Maguire/Grow, Speakers from Jigsaw, Eamon McGee/former Donegal Player and Gaelic football Pundit and a yoga talk and demonstration by Lámha co-founder Maria Coleman / Comhcheol Arts and Wellness. Events ran in Aislann Rann na Feirste, Annagry Hall and CLG Naomh Muire Mullaghderg.
Visit 'Lámha: Life Affirming Mental Health Action', on Facebook ('@lamhawellness')
Email: lamhawellness@email.com
DLDC, who funded part of the LÁMHA event blogged about it here
https://www.dldc.org/2016/11/14/positive-health-and-emotional-well-being-phew-weekend-of-events-in-the-donegal-gaeltacht-a-great-success/
