Ashbourne set to go green for good cause

Ashbourne is set to go green as the battle continues to remove the stigma surronding mental health issues.  

The ASAP group which was set up last August by Ashboune man Eugene Kennedy is joining forces with Sea Change, an organisation that is seeking to remove the stigma surrounding mental health.

As part of their campaign to encourage people to talk about any mental health issues they may have, ASAP and Sea Change requested various retail outlets in Ashbourne to go green for a week. Green is now the colour that has become associated with combating mental health issues. 

The launch of the go green week will take place in the Ashbourne House Hotel this Monday night, 7pm.  The event will include speeches by Barbara Brennan CEO of Sea Change and Matt English, CEO of Special Olympics Ireland before an official switching on of green lights takes place. It is expected that up to 70 retail outlets will have green prominently displayed on their premises. 

"The talks at the launch will take place inside before we go outside the Ashbourne House Hotel and turn on the green lights. They will go on in the Tesco carpark, the Church will go green, the Pillo Hotel and a lot of other business outlets will also switch on their green lights, they will be on automatic timers," explained Eugene Kennedy. 

"We've gone to the local shops and businesses and got them to go green, either with lights outside, or green clothes in the window or green balloons up in their shops and they will be on display for a week. We also have a hundred ribbons to give out to customers. Nearly all the shops in Ashbourne have signed up."