Funding goes to groups with impactful ideas to support young people to strengthen resilience and manage anxiety

 

22nd June 2022 - Vhi and the Irish Youth Foundation (IYF) today announced details of the eleven projects awarded grants through the Vhi Health and Wellbeing Fund.

Now in its second year, the Vhi Health & Wellbeing Fund, supports projects that aim to strengthen resilience in young people and help them manage anxiety. Non-profit charity organisations who work with young people in Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny and Limerick were invited to apply for a share of the €85,000 Fund.

The launch of the Fund came at a critical time for youth focused organisations, when research carried out by the Irish Youth Foundation showed that almost two-thirds of youth organisations had seen a reduction in funding streams following the impact of Covid-19. At the same time, eight in ten youth clubs were experiencing an increase in the number of young people needing their services in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Winning projects include a  project in Galway  that  offers support to  young people  with care experience (foster care) who are struggling with mental health and anxiety to enable them to access courses and training opportunities; In West Cork young people will be taught to surf  over the course of eight weeks, and in doing so build their confidence and strength;  and in Kilkenny  a wellbeing programme will take young people out into nature for a  combination of forest therapy  and mentoring to resource them with lifelong wellbeing and resilience practices.

The 11 winning organisations are:

• Turn2Me
• Community Creations;
• Way2Work Ireland;
• SCOOP Foundation;
• Bradóg Youth Services;
• Irish Refugee Council;
• West Cork Development Partnership;
• Spraoi agus Spórt Family Centre;
• Venture Out Wilderness Project CLG;
• The Acorn Project
• Dóchas Midwest Autism Support.

Dr Nick Young, Chief Clinical Officer, Vhi Health & Wellbeing, said: “Through the Vhi Health & Wellbeing Fund we aim to live our mission to help people live longer, stronger, healthier lives. This is the second year of the Vhi Health & Wellbeing Fund, and this year, we wanted to continue our support of young people and help the organisations they engage with to provide the supports that are so critical at the moment to help them navigate uncertainty, strengthen their resilience and manage their anxiety. We’re delighted to be awarding grants to another eleven organisations this year and look forward to seeing these ideas delivered in coming months.”

Lucy Masterson, CEO, Irish Youth Foundation, said: “We were delighted to partner with Vhi again this year. This current generation of young people have had so much to deal with in the last couple of years that projects like these that invest directly in youth supports are vital to help them overcome the challenges they’ve experienced and move ahead with the confidence and resilience to manage their future. The eleven successful organisations have some great project ideas, and I can’t wait to see them come to life and hopefully other youth orientated organisations can learn from the impact these projects will have.”

For more information about the Vhi Health & Wellbeing Fund visit https://iyf.ie/grants/.

ENDS

 

For further information please contact:

Amy Nora-Fitzgibbon, Q4PR: amy@q4pr.ie / 086-1026022

Suzanne Sullivan, Q4PR: ssullivan@q4pr.ie / 086-3797291

 

Notes to Editor

Research undertaken by Irish Youth Foundation

The research was undertaken by the Irish Youth Foundation during the month of September 2021 where 81 Youth Leaders responded.

Summary of Eleven Organisations Awarded Grants

 

Organisation Name	County	Project Description
Turn2me	Nationwide	A national mental health charity, Turn2Me will be delivering 20 mental health seminars for secondary students in schools in the six counties where Vhi have offices.
Community Creations / spunout	Nationwide	Develop a Mental Skills Hub: a library of resources accessible online and promoted to young people who want to strengthen their resilience by gaining a deeper understanding of their thoughts and feelings.
Way 2 Work Ireland	Nationwide	Create a two-tier support programme for young people with experience of foster care who are struggling with their mental health. They will create a one-to-one training opportunity to support young people who might be experiencing anxiety and they will create two group trainings - 'Wellbeing & Resilience' and 'Personal & Professional Development'.
SCOOP Foundation	Dublin	SCOOP will run a 4-week introduction to a mindfulness course called "Learning to Press Pause”. The course is based on evidence-based practices drawn from the gold standard 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme.
Bradóg Youth Services and Just Ask	Dublin	Extend the VIBES project, which they piloted from the Vhi fund last year, with two new elements: 'Mind your mental health' (positive vibes) peer training and education workshops for positive mental health across the north inner city.
Irish Refugee Council	Dublin & Galway	This funding will support a wellbeing project called 'Move your Mood'. Move your Mood is a wellbeing project for young people aged 18 to 25 years who are in the international protection process. Move Your Mood project proposes an interdisciplinary approach to wellbeing and aims to increase the resilience of young people through creative and physical activities.
West Cork Development Partnership	Cork	Will deliver "Surf to Heal" project. Over the course of eight weeks (1 session per week) in July and August, eight young people per group will learn how to surf under the supervision of qualified instructors and Ability West Cork staff.
Spraoi agus Spórt Family Centre	Donegal	Funding will be used for their 'Hopeful Minds' project - an early intervention mental health promotion programme that aims to build and strengthen resilience in young people and help them to recognise and manage anxiety. The Hopeful Minds programme will be delivered directly to 12–25-year old's, with Hopeful Minds Ambassador training for their parents.
Venture Out Wilderness Project CLG	Galway	Will deliver a creative and experiential school-based programme for young boys and men, aiming to promote their health and wellbeing, while also addressing issues around what it is to be a man in today’s world.
The Acorn Project	Kilkenny	Will create "The Journey Home" - a 9-month nature immersion and forest therapy programme for young people. Their nature-based wellbeing programme is a combination of forest therapy, story exchange, mentoring and ancestral skills (using tools, fire by friction, foraging, traditional wood crafts) to resource young people with lifelong wellbeing and resilience practices.
Dóchas Midwest Autism Support	Limerick	Dóchas provides support to children and young adults with Autism in the Midwest region. The goal of this project is to work with schools within Limerick to develop workshops and site visits to decrease the fear and anxiety around transitioning from primary to secondary school for children with Autism.

 

 

Vhi_Press

22-Jun-2022