Limerick Mental Health Association is launching a social media campaign to raise awareness about our services and raise funds to tackle the mental health impact of Covid-19, which has seen one in six people in Ireland are experiencing mental health issues.
Speaking about the increased demand on LMHA’s services in Limerick our manager Tracey Corbett Lynch said:
“At the moment projections show that approximately 30,000 people in Limerick City and County – one in six people – will have some mental health issues, with the numbers seeking help rising in the ongoing fallout from Covid-19.
We currently run our services with €59,000 funding from the HSE, and €30,000 which we raise ourselves through small grants and donations. So, our total income and funding is €89,000 per year, which unfortunately is not enough for us to provide the amount of help that’s required and the range of services that we would like to be able to provide.”
To generate wider awareness of Limerick Mental Health Association’s services and to fundraise to help deliver those services, LMHA is launching a social media drive in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day.
Ms Lynch added “We know that Limerick people are hugely generous and sensitive to the importance of mental health for our entire community and we are hoping as many people as possible will get involved and help amplify our message.”
The theme of the social media drive is #greattobeirish.
How Can You Get Involved?
- post a short video describing what it means to be Irish on St Patrick’s Day
This can be anything from your best or worst experience of St Patrick’s Day, a unique interpretation or memory of the day, well-known Irish mammy phrases, or just posting your favourite St Patrick’s Day looks. If you are not comfortable posting a video you can share a photo instead. - use the hashtags #greattobeirish #LimerickMHA
- Text LMHA to 50300 to donate €4 to #LimerickMentalHealth*
- Optional: If you can share the appeal on your own social media pages to help us reach a wider audience that would be fantastic!
We’ve even put together our own sample video to give you ideas!
Chairperson Dr Lisa O’Rourke Scott added: “We promote positive mental health across Limerick City and County and next year we will celebrate our 20th anniversary. Unfortunately, the demand for our services has never been as acute, with people feeling increasingly isolated, lonely, and anxious in lockdown. We want to help as many people as we can. We provide peer-led and group support, classes and activities from highly trained staff and we have programmes, such as WRAP, the Wellness & Recovery Action Plan, which are proven to be of great help to people, but we need the help of the public of Limerick to help us continue to meet the growing need that’s out there.”
We will be launching the appeal on all our social media accounts on Thurs, March 11th and we can’t wait to hear all about what is means to YOU to be Irish on St Patrick’s Day!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for more information over the coming week.
*Text costs €4. Limerick Mental Health Association will receive a minimum of €3.60. Service Provider: LIKECHARITY. Helpline: 076 6805278.