Secondary School pupils in Tipperary launch Elephant in The Room campaign

This year the Young Social Innovator students and The Amber Team students in CCS are working with a nationwide mental health campaign called The Elephant in The Room. The concept is based on the idiom The Elephant in The Room and challenges people to break the stigma that can still exist around mental health.
The students are on a mission for Cashel to have its own elephant sculpture; they have been busy visiting local businesses explaining the concept of the project to managers.
In January they hope to gather all interested businesses together and look at fundraising for this amazing charity. Supervalu in Cashel, The Cashel Palace and Guilfoyle’s garage were among the first businesses to support the students. The students will continue their community awareness mission in January.
The students need to raise €3,000 to have their dream come true, the baby elephant sculpture which is four feet in height and width will be a symbol of hope in the community, it will move around to different businesses in Cashel in 2023.
Every business that pledges support will be actively supporting mental health awareness in their workplace.
The charity partner of the project this year is Samaritans, recently the students received a very informative presentation form the Limerick/Tipperary branch of Samaritans and the students were so impressed to hear about all the voluntary work that the Samaritans do. The Samaritans is the only charity in Ireland providing emotional support 24 hours a day seven days a week.
Please visit https://www. elephantintheroom.ie/ and https://www.samaritans. org/ireland/samaritans- ireland/ for more detailed information .
The students would also invite the public to view the video to learn more about volunteering with the Samaritans. Any local business in Cashel can contact the school and express interest in this amazing community project and pledge their support. Each business will have the opportunity to have their company logo on the plinth of the sculpture.
Before the Cashel CS students finished for their Christmas break they supported the Samaritans annual Longest Night campaign. The Rock of Cashel and the Cashel Palace was illuminated in green as a reminder that Samaritans are there to support everyone in their darkest hours. Hundreds of corporate and landmark buildings across the country took part.
The students braved the inclement weather and met Cashel Palace Manager Mr. Adriaan Bartels and Councillor Declan Burgess in advance of both The Rock of Cashel and The Cashel Palace being illuminated on December 21 to support Samaritans #Longest Night Campaign .
The students look forward to 2024 as they will be busy with this worthy community project.