Author: Karl Hempton

Read Mór Initiative | Culture Night 2025

Posted on by Karl Hempton

This September, Jigsaw will be gifting free books to young people across Ireland, as part of the Culture Night festivities.

The initiative, called Read Mór, will see 30 books by Irish and Irish-based authors given out for free from selected Jigsaw services.

Read Mór in 2025 is a partnership between Jigsaw and the Arts Council and is aimed at encouraging young people to embrace reading.

Now in its fourth year, Read Mór was created to extend the spirit of Culture Night to those who may be unable to attend in-person events. The initiative champions Irish writing while recognising the proven benefits of reading for mental health, emotional wellbeing, and social connection.

This year, Read Mór events will take place in selected Jigsaw centres nationwide on Culture Night, giving young people across the country the opportunity to connect, explore books, and celebrate reading in a welcoming environment.

For us at Jigsaw, the Read Mór initiative offers an opportunity to allow young people to discover the mental health benefits of reading, which is sometimes referred to as bibliotherapy.

Jigsaw Shortlisted for Irish Healthcare Awards 2025

Posted on by Karl Hempton

All at Jigsaw are delighted to be shortlisted in the Irish Healthcare Awards 2025 in the category Mental Health Initiative of the Year.

This announcement recognises the work of our teams across the country in increasing access to timely therapy for young people in a national mental health primary care network through a range of initiatives including opening up online referrals, offering single session first therapy and more.

Addressing the escalating mental health crisis requires systemic and innovative solutions and over the past two years, we, at Jigsaw, have renewed our commitment to timely care. We have reimagined how services can be delivered within our existing resources.

At the heart of this transformation is the introduction of single-session first therapy, aimed at providing impactful therapeutic support at the point of need.

Early indicators are really positive and this shortlisting is a real boost. Fingers crossed for the awards ceremony in November!

Why Are So Many Struggling To Cope?

Posted on by Karl Hempton

What’s happening to young people’s mental health? 

And why are so many struggling to cope?

 

We are living through a youth mental health crisis. It has been building slowly over the past two decades, but today its impact is unmistakable. From schools and homes to social media and community spaces, young people in Ireland and across the world are struggling, and too often, they’re struggling alone. 

 

So what’s changed? And why now?

 

A landmark global study published in The Lancet in 2024 found that mental health among young people has been declining, especially in high-income countries like Ireland. The study highlighted a range of contributing factors: rising academic pressure, the influence of social media, increased loneliness and isolation, climate anxiety, economic insecurity, and growing inequality. 

 

Closer to home, the My World Survey 2 — the largest ever study of youth mental health in Ireland — found that levels of anxiety, stress and low self-esteem increased significantly between adolescence and young adulthood. The research also identified a worrying fall in protective factors like optimism, life satisfaction and connectedness, with many young people reporting that they felt unsupported, unheard or unsure where to turn for help. 

 

Is it too late to turn things around?

 

No, but the science is clear: we must act early. Evidence consistently shows that intervening at the first signs of mental health difficulty can significantly reduce the risk of more serious problems developing. Young people need timely, accessible, youth-friendly services — not just when things reach crisis point, but at the very beginning of their mental health journey. 

 

That’s where Jigsaw comes in. Our services offer free early support in local communities across Ireland, giving young people a safe, non-judgemental space to talk, to be heard, and to find hope. 

 

Thanks to your support, we are there every day helping young people build their mental health and resilience. But demand is rising, and the need has never been greater. This is one of the biggest health and social challenges of our time. 

 

Together, we can respond. Together, we can change the story.

 

Need Support?

We at Jigsaw offer a range of supports for children and young people aged between 12 and 25 across Ireland, including online support and face to face therapy sessions.

For more information on our supports click here:

Get Support

Five-a-side fun for a good cause

Posted on by Karl Hempton

Now in its 5th year, the Cocoa Cup 5-a-side football fundraiser, organised by Lindt Chocolate, took place in the Astro Park in Coolock last Thursday, June 26th.

Over 120 took part, including players from Lindt, Butlers Chocolate, Primeline Group, Heinz, Sprungli and even a Jigsaw team.

The event raised over €4k this year, but more than that, it brought players together for a sun-drenched afternoon of connection, competition and craic.

Details of how you can support this years fundraising efforts can be found here – https://www.gofundme.com/f/g4jbx-the-cocoa-cup-charity-tournament-for-jigsaw

Parent | Post-Primary Mental Health Support Survey

Posted on by Karl Hempton

Jigsaw has just announced the delivery of the new NEART programme. We are asking parents and guardians of young people aged between 12 – 18 years old, to take part in a survey.

At Jigsaw we provide a range of supports for parents/guardians more widely through our local Jigsaw services, in the community and through our website. We want to provide the most relevant information, advice and support and practical strategies for you as a parent/guardian, to enable you to support your young person’s mental health.

To help us do this we would like to hear from you about the youth mental health issues you are most concerned with in a very short survey which you can find at the bottom of this page or by visiting: https://jigsawymh.typeform.com/to/GyFrkdtd

The survey takes no longer than 4 minutes to complete.

Within the survey, there is also an opportunity for you to sign up to participate in a follow-up consultation process with us where we are very keen to have further discussions with parents/guardians about the mental health areas you are most concerned about.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts so that parents/guardians like you across the country are receiving the best information and supports.

Jigsaw Success at Published Accounts Awards

Posted on by Karl Hempton

Last Thursday, the 7th of November, Jigsaw took home 2 awards from the 47th annual Published Accounts Awards hosted by Chartered Accounts Ireland.

Jigsaw has been awarded:

  • The Diversity and Inclusion Award in the Not-for-Profit sector
  • Not-for-Profit – Large Group category

Both of these awards speak to the quality of Jigsaw’s annual report and recognise our work.

They acknowledge the impact that Jigsaw as a charity and service has had across the country, the robustness of our governance, and the honesty and bravery of those young people brave enough to share their stories.

Neart Programme Announcement

Posted on by Karl Hempton

Minister for Education Norma Foley is delighted to announce Jigsaw as the successful bidder to provide services to further support wellbeing and mental health in post-primary schools. The new programme will be called Neart – the Irish word for strength.

 

The tender, published in April of this year, invited suitable providers to work closely with the Department of Education over a three-year period to develop and deliver additional supports to enhance Student Support Team capacity to work with students, parents and school staff.

 

The new Neart programme, provided by Jigsaw, will provide learning opportunities for students that promote mental health and wellbeing as well as mental health webinars and e-Learning courses for parents and school staff.

 

The Department of Education believe that Jigsaw’s existing experience delivering initiatives supporting the mental health of young people across post-primary schools made them an exemplary partner in this new initiative. Their work will complement the supports already available in schools that include: the provision of guidance counselling, the work of the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), as well as the existing wellbeing programmes and initiatives including the Student Support Team structure.

 

Youth Advocates Invite TDs To Discuss Mental Health

Posted on by Karl Hempton

On Tuesday 25th of June 2024, 9 Jigsaw Youth Advocates invited their local elected representative to come and meet with them in Leinster House to discuss their concerns about the lack of resources and funding for early intervention and prevention in their local communities.

Aoibhe, a Youth Advocate for Jigsaw Dublin City, spoke to invited representatives about the need for more resources to support young people in schools, through early intervention and prevention and engagement at a local level with schools.

Minding Your TikTok Feed

Posted on by Karl Hempton

Is Your TikTok For You Page Showing You Bad Content?

 

We have all experienced it. You open up TikTok to relax after a hard day at school just to be met with a video that makes you feel down, you scroll away to try and find a video that makes you laugh or teaches you something new, but again you’re met with another piece of upsetting content.

Last week RTÉ primetime investigates covered a story about how your TikTok for you page works.

In the news story, RTÉ explained that people as young as 13 years old, were being shown damaging content online.

With the rise in harmful content online, it’s time that we learn how to protect ourselves from seeing harmful and damaging content online.

Here is what to do if you keep seeing content on your TikTok For You page that you don’t want to see.