Dunloy lead the way for positive mental health

The club haS been working with staff from the Northern Health and Social Care Trust to put together a series of events and courses aimed at increasing the skills, knowledge and confidence of key people within the club, in an effort to ensure that players and the wider community feel supported and are encouraged to talk about their mental health concerns or to seek support.

Geraldine McDonnell, Senior Health Promotion Officer, Northern Trust said: “Studies have indicated that one in five adults in Northern Ireland will experience a mental health problem at some time in their lives, but that men are less likely to ask for help or support for these problems from a professional.

“Cuchullains are in a prime position to reduce the stigma around mental health issues, and to encourage people in the club and wider community to seek support should they be experiencing mental health problems. That is why we are keen to support them in doing this.”

Health promotion officers from the Northern Trust have trained 18 club coaches and mentors in Mental Health First Aid. Having successfully completed their training the coaches and mentors will be able to identify and support young people within the club who are experiencing difficulties, and prevent further problems from developing through early intervention.

Speaking about their efforts locally to support good mental health, Dunloy Coach Tom McLean said: “We really wanted to ensure that we are doing everything we can to support the young men and women who play here every week. We do so much to improve their physical health, and we now recognise that promoting mental health is just as critical – both on and off the pitch.

“We worked with local counsellor, Joe Brogan, Rosemary McMullan, wife of the late Antrim and Dunloy hurler Frankie McMullan and Geraldine McDonnell from Northern Trust to create and train a team of local coaches who are skilled in giving advice, as well as developing a programme of events that aims to encourage those experiencing problems to seek support.”

Rosemary McMullan added that: “The club took a huge leap of faith in tackling the area of mental health as its not usually on the agenda for a sports club, but in this case it paid off with really fantastic support and participation from players and the wider community. We’re very confident that these efforts will have a huge impact locally”.

The opening of the new sports academy will be celebrated with a week packed with fun and activities for all, and has been planned as part of an innovative programme of initiatives the club has undertaken to promote and raise money for mental health awareness.

If you would like to find out more about receiving Mental Health First Aid training for your club, please contact Geraldine McDonnell on 028 2563 6600.