18 January 2008

St Colman’s College in ‘Open Your Mind’ Final

St Colman’s College, Newry has come third in the final of the ‘Open Your Mind’ public speaking competition which promotes mental health awareness among young people.

Having won the Newry and Mourne heat of the competition in October, the St Colman’s team went through to the final for the Southern Health and Social Care Trust area.

The St Colman’s team gave a 16 minute presentation on their chosen topic; good mental health is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.

The ‘Open Your Mind’ competition is open to all post primary schools across the Southern Health and Social Care Trust area and targets year 11 pupils, aged 14 to 15 years old.

Deirdre McParland, Senior Mental Health Promotion Officer for the Southern Health and Social Care Trust says: “Open Your Mind aims to foster a greater awareness and understanding of mental health issues amongst young people. We believe there is no better means of achieving this than through the voices of young people themselves.”

The competition was funded by the Southern Health and Social Services Board and organised by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust in partnership with Action Mental Health, MensSana.