Get on board the bus campaign

Next stop: Youth Mental Health change!

What’s it about?

The Get on Board for Youth Mental Health campaign is all about raising awareness of mental health in the political arena. Politicians seem to talk a lot about the youth vote and how it matters, yet they rarely seem to focus on mental health. Mental ill health is one of the most pressing problems for young people today and some of that mental ill health is a direct consequence of the poor planning during the celtic tiger years. When the country did have money, it was not well invested in services for young people and certainly not in mental illness prevention. So, we are stuck now and something needs to be done.

The Get on Board for Youth Mental Health is a call to action to get these issues on the political agenda, to get young people asking for it and to get candidates committing to it. One of its main aims is to get young people directly in touch with their candidates.

The campaign is supported by Reachout.com, Foróige, BeLonGTo and Headstrong.

Why does it matter?

Mental health issues affect us all. According to official stats, 20% of young people in Ireland today are suffering with mental health problems. Since many people do not contact any services when they are experiencing mental ill health, the real number is likely to be even higher.

Mental health needs attention and people need to be taught how to look after themselves and how to get help. Help should be readily available and not cost the earth.

What you can do:

The bus is going to be touring the country over the next month. Yes, an actual snazzy bus going round the country. So, if you wanna get involved, meet some candidates and have your say, then come down to one of the listed events:

Fri 18: Louth
Sat 19: Galway
Sun 20: Roscommon/Athlone
Mon 21: Dublin
Tues 22: Kerry
Wed 23: Cork
Thur 24: Dublin
Fri 25th: Election Day

Further Information:

www.getonboard.ie/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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