Six Meath students graduate as mental health ambassadors

Six Meath students joined over 120 Transition Year students across Ireland to graduate as Walk in My Shoes mental health ambassadors during a special online ceremony held to celebrate the class of 2020/2021.

For over ten years, Walk in My Shoes, the flagship education and awareness-raising campaign of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, has run a Transition Year programme inviting over 100 students per year from across Ireland to take part. The programme is one week long in duration and is run five times during the academic year between October and March.

This is a milestone year for the TY programme, with over 1,000 students graduating since it began in 2010. This year’s programme also marked a transition in how the programme was run, with the entire schedule moving online due to the pandemic.

The programme is hosted by the adolescent mental health team and staff at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, who deliver over 25 sessions to students across the week. This year, 123 participants undertook a range of classroom-based activities which included viewing mock multidisciplinary team meetings with psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists, nurses and social workers. Other topics included advocacy and mental health, pharmacology, career pathways and much more.

There were two additions to the programme for 2020/2021, including a presentation from a former service user who described her own journey to recovery, and a new group project where students worked together to prepare and deliver presentations on their chosen aspects of mental health.

The graduation ceremony took place online and students were joined by WIMS Ambassador and Dublin GAA Ladies star Nicole Owens, and Singer/Songwriter Davie Furey, who gave a live performance.

Speaking about the programme and the importance of open conversations, Walk in My Shoes Ambassador Nicole Owens said: ‘Walk in My Shoes’ Transition Year Programme gives young people the opportunity to educate themselves about mental health, which I believe leads to increased awareness in society. I was inspired to become a WIMS ambassador because the more we talk about mental health, the more we normalise it for others. I would like to congratulate all the student graduates and ask that they share all they have learned from this programme among their peers and their communities’.

Paul Gilligan, CEO at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services said “young people have experienced a lot of uncertainty over the past few months and for this reason Walk in My Shoes was proud to be able to bring its popular Transition Year programme online for 2020/2021. The programme is a real insight for young people into mental health services, and provides tools and resources to empower our participants to act as a mental health ambassador for their communities.

Over 1000 young students across Ireland have taken part since its establishment in 2010, and this experience will equip them to support their own wellbeing or those of families and friends during this difficult time and into the future.”

For more information on the Walk in My Shoes Transition Year Programme and how to apply for the 2021/2022 programme, please visit www.walkinmyshoes.ie

The Meath students who took part in the Transition Year Programme include:

Nikolet Serbezova, Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan, Co Dublin receiving the Walk in My Shoes TY Programme Graduate certificate). Nikolet resides in Co Meath.

Tyrone Shi, St Columba's College, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. Tyrone resides in Co Meath.

Deirbhile Purcell, Scoil Dara, Kilcock, Co. Kildare.

Isabelle Clarke, Ballymakenny College, Drogheda, Co Louth.

Áine Young, Ashbourne Community School, Ashbourne, Co. Meath.

Niamh Hyland, Drogheda Grammar School, Drogheda, Co Meath