1 November 2007

St Colman’s College pupils scoop top prize for opening their minds!

St Colman’s College has scooped first prize in the Newry and Mourne heat of the ‘Open Your Mind’ public speaking competition. The competition aims to promote mental health awareness among young people.

The team from St Colman’s gave a thought provoking presentation on why people find it difficult to talk about mental and emotional problems.

George Empringham - Green from St Colman's won best overall speaker in the competition.

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 highlights that: “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.”

Sarah Small Project Worker with Action Mental Health Menssana gave a presentation on the services Menssana offers to schools and young people across the Southern area.

The adjudicators for the event included Kieran Devlin, Health Promotion Team, Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Stella Mitchell, retired member of Newry and Mourne Mental Health Team and Sinead Boyce Magnet centre, Newry.

Deirdre McParland added: “The standard of debate was amazingly high; these young people have clearly developed an informed and compassionate understanding of mental health issues. They deserve great praise, as do their teachers and school.”

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.