Thursday 31 August 2017

Poetry and Prose by Patrick Clifford

Gateway's September Schedule

New upcoming training at Gateway !

The Make Meetings Meaningful Training is a great chance to learn new skills or improve on those you already have so you can feel confident to participate and lead meetings at Gateway or in your life.See all details below.



Wednesday 23 August 2017

Mental Health Reform urge Government to fulfil commitment to invest at least €55m in Budget 2018

Launching its pre-budget submission today, Mental Health Reform, the national coalition on mental health, has called on the Government to fulfill its commitment to invest at least €55m in development funding for mental health services in Budget 2018. Speaking on behalf of its 60 member organisations, Director of Mental Health Reform, Shari McDaid, said,

“We know that demand for mental health services in Ireland is increasing and the figures really speak for themselves. Between 2014 and 2016 the number of referrals for the Counselling in Primary Care Service has increased by 30 per cent. As of July 2017, the waiting list for child and adolescent mental health services was 2,419, with 218 having waited for more than a year. As of March 2017, mental health services are at just 80 per cent of the staffing levels recommended in the national policy, A Vision for Change. This situation is simply not sustainable. If the Government is serious about addressing the crisis in mental health services, it must meet its commitment of a minimum increase of €55m in Budget 2018 and increase the proportion of the health budget spent on mental health.”

Dr. McDaid continued, “We hear of people having serious difficulty accessing mental health services when they need them, and especially outside of office hours and on weekends. This has gone on far too long. Ireland needs 24/7 crisis mental health services in every community across the country, so that people can get the help they need when they need it. The Government needs to step up to its responsibility to provide the resources for these services to be rolled out.”


Dr. McDaid concluded, “2017 was the first year in recent times that mental health spend reduced as a proportion of the overall health budget, to just 6%, which led to some people questioning the Government’s commitment on mental health. This Government needs to show that it values the mental health of people in Ireland by providing the adequate staffing to deliver needed services and increasing the proportion of the health budget spent on mental health towards the 10% recommended by the Committee on the Future Vision of Healthcare.”


Expressive Gateways

A little reminder that the formal launch of Gateway’s art exhibition, Expressive Gateways, is on next Wednesday 30th August 5.30pm-7.30pm upstairs in Rathmines Library.

Planning is in full swing here and excitement is building.

We’d love for you to join us for an evening of art, celebration, refreshments and good company.

We hope to see you there.



Workshops on Talking with Voices - Learning from the Dialogue

See information below on an upcoming 2 day workshop about different ways to use the voice dialogue approach with people who hear voices. It is aimed at people who are already familiar with hearing voices approaches and ethos and want to learn more about dialoguing.  This training is for mental health nurses, mental health workers, people who hear voices and their supporters.

Thursday 10 August 2017

Mental Health Reform recruitment


Mental Health Reform is now seeking to contract two Peer Research Assistants (PRAs) to assist with our National Consultation ‘My Voice Matters’ on the experiences of people who use public mental health services and their family members and carers. The My Voice Matters consultation will gather feedback through two national surveys (one for service users and one for family members and carers) in addition to targeted focus groups.

The key role of the PRAs is to assist with gathering surveys from Kilkenny or Carlow outpatient mental health services. PRAs will approach and recruit people accessing the mental health services to 1) participate in the survey and 2) support people in completing the survey. Peer Research Assistants must have self-experience of mental health difficulties and of accessing mental health services. PRA’s must also have completed some form of peer facilitation training and have experience in, for example, Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), peer support group or other peer facilitation.

Full details of the role description are outlined in the attached document. Please circulate to your relevant contacts, who may be interested in submitting an application. 


The closing date for receipt of applications is Thursday 17th August 2017. Applicants should send their CV and a cover letter outlining their suitability for the role to Oscar James at ojames@mentalhealthreform.ie

Gateway Art Exhibition

Hi Everyone,

The Gateway Art Group would like to invite you to their upcoming Art Exhibition Launch , Expressive Gateways. Over the past number of months our Gateway Artists have been busy preparing a wonderful collection of art work. This stunning collection will be opened on Wednesday 30th August in an evening of chats, creativity and refreshments at Rathmines Library . Please do come along ! Further details below...



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