L to R; Enda Johnston Co-Founder Kali Cafe, Alyssa Manley Portwest Ireland, Ruth Mc Court Marketing & Fundraising Manager Helplink Mental Health, Sam O’ Neill Board Member at Helplink Mental Health, Lochlann Scott CEO at Helplink Mental Health
In 2021 we saw our month-long sea swimming fundraiser challenge for our services called Coldtober go national, so all of Ireland could take part!
Twenty+ different locations around Ireland saw participants take part by going for a swim every day for this 31 day challenge in their local sea swimming area.
Thank you to the 490 participants from 21 counties across Ireland who took part in Coldtober 2021!
We are so excited to open registrations for Coldtober 2022, our annual fundraising event for the month of October, each day we invite you to join us in this month-long sea swimming fundraiser challenge to help us get one step closer to meeting our mission; to support children, young people and adults with their mental health.
Follow the journey on our social media pages, and tag us on Instagram @HelplinkMentalHealth, Twitter @HelplinkMH and Facebook @HelplinkMentalHealth.
We also have a Coldtober 2022 Facebook Group. Don’t forget to use our hashtag #Coldtober!
The first 500 participants to register for the challenge will receive a Coldtober Portwest beanie from our sponsor Portwest Ireland, and the delicious, unique Solaris Tea to warm you up after your sea swim.
For anyone who would like to take part but isn’t near a sea swimming spot, you can take part by having a 30-second cold shower each day!
Register here > https://register.enthuse.com/ps/event/Coldtober
By registering to Coldtober you agree to our Terms & Conditions > https://www.helplink.ie/coldtober-terms-of-entry/
“We are thrilled to be launching Coldtober for a second year in a row. Coldtober 2021 was a huge success and totally exceeded our expectations, we saw 490 participants register for the sea swimming fundraiser from 20 counties across Ireland, and the funding from this fundraiser helped Helpink’s counselling services to expand immensely! During 2021, in our Galway location, we provided just over 1,200 counselling appointments to children, young people and adults. In the first 6 months of 2022 we did the same amount of appointments as we did in the whole year of 2021; a 100% growth in demand!
We have also hired 16 new counsellors to keep up with demand for online and offline appointments, and have hired a full time Services Delivery Manager to monitor and streamline all of our counselling services and provide support to our counselors.
I’m delighted to be managing and executing the Coldtober 2022 campaign, I am so passionate about mental health services and hope with the continued expansion of Helplink we will continue to support and make a difference in people’s lives. I’m a sea swimmer myself so I will be taking part again this year at Blackrock. Also a huge thank you to our sponsor Portwest Ireland who have come on board again this year”
– Ruth Mc Court, Marketing & Fundraising Manager at Helplink Mental Health
“Coldtober allowed us to hire a new play therapist to meet the demand for play therapy appointments, it has resulted in a whopping 42% increase in the service in the 4 months following Coldtober compared to the previous year
Play therapy supports children age 3-12 in Galway and Castlebar and allows children the time and space to work out what may be troubling them, supporting each child to fulfil their full potential” Lochlann Scott, CEO
Mind Hacks stats see below:
- Unique Users of the Mind Hacks mental health Video and Podcast Libraries (August 2021 & August 2022) = >2300
- Students supported through our primary school workshop for 6th Class students (The Voyage) nationally = >3000
In their 10 years of service, Helplink has provided over 18,000 counselling appointments for children, young people and adults. Last year alone they provided >6000 appointments illustrating the large national trend of increased mental health support seeking from the public.
Helplink also provides mental health information and education services and in 2020 they released their national e-learning platform called Mind Hacks (mindhacks.ie). On Mind Hacks the public have free access 24/7 to unique mental health video and podcast libraries and the platform also provides student mental health workshops; also available 24/7 over a continuous period.
For more information or interviews please contact Marketing & Fundraising Manager Ruth Mc Court – ruth@helplink.ie
Photo Credits: Brad Anderson Photo One Studio