New Jigsaw youth mental health service operation announced for Tipperary

Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, today announced that they plan to add to their growing network of youth mental health services, with counties Wicklow and Tipperary earmarked for new services in late 2019 and early 2020 respectively.

Jigsaw’s youth mental health services, currently in 13 communities across Ireland, are staffed by fully-trained professionals across a number of disciplines and provide a range of early intervention mental health services for young people aged 12-25 experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties.

Fine Gael election candidate Garret Ahearn has called for the new service to be located in Clonmel.

Mr Ahearn said -  “I am very pleased this much needed new Jigsaw service for Tipperary has been approved which will greatly enhance early intervention resources and is important in the overall mental health care spectrum but I feel it’s extremely important that this service is located in Clonmel.  The Government made a mistake in the closure of St Michael’s Psychiatric services six years ago and Jigsaw would be a welcomed mental health service for the town.”

Alongside the clinical, in-session work with young people, Jigsaw teams locally will work closely with schools, community groups, sports clubs and other local services to increase understanding about youth mental health, and where support is available to young people.

Supported by a network of Youth Advisory Panels, Jigsaw’s work in the community adopts a holistic approach aimed at informing, supporting, educating and empowering communities, enabling a better understanding of our collective responsibility in supporting young people’s mental health.

Commenting on the announcement, Jigsaw CEO, Dr. Joseph Duffy said, “This expansion highlights our commitment to our vision of an Ireland where every young person’s mental health is valued and supported and reflects our desire to be as accessible, impactful, visible, relevant and inclusive a service as possible.

Counties Wicklow and Tipperary have long been on our radar and thanks to the collective efforts of members of the local communities, elected representatives and others, we are delighted to officially commence work on establishing Jigsaw Wicklow and Jigsaw Tipperary. This announcement would not be possible without the support of our key partner, the HSE.

At a local and national level, our colleagues in the HSE have offered huge support and we are incredibly grateful for their trust in us to deliver our vital service.”

This announcement follows a recent notice of Jigsaw’s intention to expand its services in a number of other areas, namely increased outreach options in counties Laois and Cork, the launch of a new eMental health platform and the roll out of a new school’s initiative planned from September 2019.

“Now, the planning begins in earnest” commented Ms. Sarah Cullinan, Jigsaw’s Programme Director. “Over the coming months, we will be reaching out to the local communities, commencing recruitment, liaising with appropriate stakeholders in the mental health arena, engaging directly with young people, sourcing premises and more – a very exciting time indeed!”