Millburn PS does Movember in aid of the Zachary Geddis Trust

The Zachary Geddis Break the Silence Trust is a local non-profit organisation dedicated to raising mental health awareness in Northern Ireland and decreasing the stigma surrounding suicide.

Founded in 2017 by the Geddis Family, ZGBTST has gained significant ground in the mental health service industry running three premises across the borough, to tend to those in need.

The Millburn Campaign “kicked off” with male members of staff growing their moustaches in support of the Movember Movement which highlights men’s mental health and the huge benefits of all men talking to their friends, family and even strangers about their emotional health and wellbeing.

This importance, for all of us, of talking about how feel was the message shared with Key Stage 2 pupils of Millburn Primary when the Founder of the Zachary Geddis “Break the Silence Trust”, Yasmin Geddis, visited school in early October.

Following Yasmin’s visit, the pupils thought it would be a great idea to nominate their own male role models, by sending in pictures which the children adorned with personal, positive affirmations and displayed throughout the school.

To help bring a fun conclusion to the campaign, the children and other staff also came to school wearing all kinds of fun moustaches in the last week of November adding to the Movember imagery.

Information was shared with parents who also joined in on the fun, raising money along the way.

Not content with an in-house approach, the school brought forward several ideas including an online donation page and bucket collection at one of the biggest Coleraine FC games of the year, Coleraine vs Larne, on Friday, November 20.

This campaign brought together a local primary school, charity, and football club working together to make a real difference to the lives of the local people in need within their own community.

All together Millburn Primary School raised over £3,000 for ZGBTST, one of the charity’s biggest community collectionss to date.

On Thursday, December 9, Yasmin returned to Millburn to meet up with Principal Sharon Lamont, Vice Principal Ruairi McCLean, and Coleraine FC Representative, Clement Dealey to be presented with a cheque from the school.

This donation will be used by ZGBTST to further expand their service range in 2022.

Founder Yasmin Geddis praised the local school for their commitment: “Mental health awareness i still something that is not discussed or highlighted in many primary schools across Northern Ireland.

“When visiting Millburn Primary School, it was evident that discussing mental health and wellbeing was at the core of its teaching and the staff have made a fantastic demonstration of this through supporting the Movember Movement.

“We are delighted to be the recipients of such a generous amount of fundraising and would like to thank the entire Millburn PS team, Coleraine FC, their supporters and Larne FC supporters for their support this November.

“Every little penny makes the biggest difference to us.”