112 students graduate as mental health ambassadors

112 Transition Year (TY) students graduate from our mental health careers and advocacy programme.

For over 13 years, Walk in My Shoes (WIMS) has been delighted to run a TY Programme, which invites over 100 students from across Ireland to take part in the week-long initiative. To date, over 1,200 students have completed the programme.

Our 2023/24 TY Programme

Throughout the TY Programme, students receive first-hand insight into how a mental healthcare service operates. They learn about careers in healthcare; meet mental health experts and clinicians; hear from people who have gone through mental health difficulties and their experiences of mental health recovery; and discuss mental health stigma and ways to tackle it.

Hosted by our WIMS team, the programme facilitates guest speakers during approximately 20 sessions with students across the week. This year, the participants undertook a range of activities which included viewing a mock multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting with psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists, nurses and social workers; taking part in sessions with pharmacists, as well as the Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from St Patrick's Mental Health Services (SPMHS); and participating in group presentations.

Throughout the week, students built their mental health awareness and left the programme empowered to act as mental health ambassadors in both their schools and local communities.

Graduation

To celebrate their completion of the programme, students and their families took part in an online graduation ceremony in May. Gathering together, the students were congratulated by Paul Gilligan, CEO of SPMHS, and WIMS Supporter Cormac Ryan, while some graduating students offered some spoken reflections of their time spent on the programme.

Congratulating the students, Sinéad O’Kelly, Mental Health Promotion Manager with WIMS, said: “Mental health education and awareness play an important role in combatting stigma."

"The TY Programme gives students the chance to gain more of an understanding of mental health difficulties and the impact that a positive attitude towards mental health can make, equipping them with the tools to act as mental health ambassadors for their schools and wider communities."

"Participants also had the opportunity to learn about different careers in mental health and to reflect on their future career path.”