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FIVE ways to get active & support young people this Spring 🐰🐣

Posted on by Ian Carey

From iconic city runs to an adrenaline-fueled abseil to meaningful remembrance walks, there are powerful ways for you to get involved this year, set a personal goal, and support young people’s mental health across Ireland.

Whether you are chasing a personal best, ticking something off your bucket list, taking on your first 10km, or honouring someone close to you, we would love to have you on Team Jigsaw.

Number 1 🌿 

RIP.ie Remembers Walk 2026

Throughout March 2026

Not every fundraiser has to be about racing.

The RIP.ie Remembers campaign invites people across Ireland to walk 20 kilometres during March in memory of someone they love. Participants can complete the distance at a time and place that suits them, making it a flexible and meaningful way to get involved.

It is a thoughtful and reflective initiative that brings remembrance, community and purpose together, while supporting causes close to your heart.

If you would like to take part in RIP.ie Remembers and fundraise for Jigsaw, we would love to support you.

Number 2 🗼 

Paris Marathon 2026

Sunday, 12 April 2026

The Paris Marathon is one of the largest and most famous marathons in the world. The 42.195km route begins on the Champs Élysées and takes runners past some of the most recognisable landmarks in Paris, including the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.

It is a true bucket list race and entries sell out quickly each year.

If you are ready to take on the ultimate endurance challenge in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, this is your chance to do it while raising funds to support young people’s mental health. Charity places are limited, so early expressions of interest are encouraged.

Number 3 🏃‍♂️ 

Dublin City Half Marathon 2026

Sunday, 3 May 2026

One of the newest and most exciting additions to Ireland’s running calendar, the Dublin City Half Marathon takes place on Sunday, 3 May, starting and finishing in the heart of Dublin. The scenic 21.1km route brings runners through some of the city’s most iconic streets and landmarks.

The 2026 event is already completely sold out, with general entry places snapped up in record time. It is fast becoming one of the most sought-after races in the country.

The good news is that Jigsaw has secured a limited number of charity places.

If you missed out on general entry, this is your opportunity to run with purpose and help ensure young people can access free, confidential mental health support when they need it most.

Number 4 🧗‍♂️ 

Abseil at Croke Park

Thursday, 28 May 2026

Looking to achieve a lifelong ambition in Croke Park?

On Thursday, 28 May, our fundraising abseil challenge is taking place in GAA HQ. 

Join our team of Jigsaw heroes who will abseil off the iconic Hogan Stand in Croke Park, taking in incredible views across Dublin before making their way back down to earth.

This fully organised challenge is perfect for anyone who wants to push themselves in a new way while raising funds for a cause that matters. You do not need prior abseiling experience. Full instructions and safety support will be provided on the day.

Places are limited, so early expressions of interest are encouraged.

Number 5 👟 

Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon 2026

Sunday, 31 May 2026

The Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon returns on 31 May and remains the largest women only 10km event of its kind in the world. It is an iconic day in Dublin’s sporting calendar, bringing together runners, joggers and walkers of all levels in an atmosphere that is supportive, uplifting and inspiring.

Last year, the event sold out early due to huge demand. If you are interested in taking part this year, we have charity places available for anyone who would like to support Jigsaw.

Whether it is your first 10km or your fifteenth, this is a fantastic way to be part of something powerful while raising vital funds for youth mental health.

Ready to Take Part?

If you are interested in taking part in any of these opportunities, please email fundraising@jigsaw.ie and a member of our team will be in touch to guide you through the next steps.

Every euro raised helps us continue to provide free therapy and confidential mental health support for young people aged 12 to 25 across Ireland.

We cannot wait to cheer you on. 💚

Jigsaw urges Government to prioritize digital resilience alongside social media restrictions

Posted on by Ian Carey

Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, has today responded to the Government’s Memo to Cabinet regarding the drafting of new legislation to restrict social media use for those under 16. While acknowledging the Government’s intent to enhance online safety, Jigsaw is calling for the upcoming Bill to move beyond simple “blanket bans” and instead embed youth voice and digital resilience into the core of the new regulations.

Drawing on its 2025 youth-led policy brief, Social Media & Youth Mental Health, Jigsaw highlights that while young people are keenly aware of online risks, they remain concerned that restrictive controls alone are often unrealistic and can disproportionately impact marginalized youth who rely on these spaces for connection and support. As the legislative process begins, Jigsaw is urging the Government to include mandatory youth-informed impact assessments for the new measures to ensure they do not unintentionally harm the very people they aim to protect.

Dr. Jeff Moore, Director of Research at Jigsaw said:

“The findings from our youth-led policy research show that the link between social media use and young people’s mental health is complex. Young people speak clearly about the risks they encounter online, including exposure to harmful content and peer pressure, but they also describe how digital spaces support connection, identity development, and access to help. Many young people do not believe that a blanket ban on social media use will be effective on its own, and policies that rely only on restriction risk missing this reality.

“Jigsaw, alongside many international colleagues in youth mental health, recommends an approach grounded in harm reduction. This means combining proportionate regulatory safeguards, including stronger platform safety and age-appropriate design standards, with sustained national investment in digital literacy, resilience-building, and supports for parents and caregivers. Helping young people develop the skills to navigate online environments safely is as important as limiting exposure to risk.

“Young people must also be directly involved in shaping the policies that affect them. Introducing youth-informed impact assessments as part of the legislative process would help ensure that new measures are practical, rights-based, and grounded in the everyday experiences of young people in Ireland.

Notes:

 

Supporting Student Wellbeing: Turning ESRI evidence into action in schools

Posted on by Ian Carey

Jigsaw welcomes this morning’s article in the Irish Times highlighting the recent report from ESRI on Supporting Student Wellbeing in School Contexts.

There is little doubt that the global deterioration in our young people’s mental health is the most significant and cross-cutting issue facing our society today.

And we all have a role.

Jigsaw’s Neart programme, developed and delivered in partnership with the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS)/Department of Education and Youth, focuses on strengthening the whole school environment and support systems around students, fostering positive school culture, the centrality of supportive relationships and sense of belonging for all, which promote and support student wellbeing.

This approach strongly aligns with the evidence-based recommendations of the report. In recognition of the increased challenges of minoritised students referenced in this article, Neart also has an ongoing workstream on supporting the specific wellbeing needs of minoritised groups, holding equity, true inclusion and belonging for all front and centre.

Neart offers direct and practical support to schools to build the necessary skills and take evidence-informed actions to promote student wellbeing through of suite of supports for school staff and parents, including webinars, a podcast series, in-person regional conferences, online resources and our Neart Wellbeing Award.

Neart aims to support schools to create an environment that promotes the wellbeing of the entire school community. This whole school approach, involving school leaders and all staff, parents and young people, is essential in moving from individual ownership to collective responsibility.

As referenced in the recent ERSI report, the creation of this supportive environment is essential in supporting belonging and connectedness – key ingredients in supporting the student, but also those around them – educators, school leaders, staff and parents.

Key to the successful implementation of any wellbeing initiative in schools is student involvement from the start. As pointed in the ERSI  report, “There are few better opportunities to hand over responsibility than in the design and implementation of school wellbeing initiatives… Students are the experts on their own subjective wellbeing and should be central to decision-making around whole school wellbeing efforts.”

Please see www.jigsaw.ie/neart for further information on how we can support your school on your wellbeing journey.

 

Thinking of a marathon in 2026? Why not Paris, in aid of Jigsaw

Posted on by Ian Carey

It’s famed for it’s art, it’s fashion, and its incredible architecture.

But on April 12th thousands of people will take to the streets of Paris for the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris 2026.

Jigsaw have a small number of places for fundraisers. Why not take on the challenge for a great cause?

If you are interested you better hurry as entries close next week.

Experience Paris like never before

Paris is one of the world’s most iconic marathon routes. You’ll:

  • Start on the Champs-Élysées
  • Pass the Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame and the Eiffel Tower
  • Follow the Seine through the heart of the city

It’s a marathon people remember for the rest of their lives.

Why run for Jigsaw?

Your run will make a difference for young people in Ireland. Jigsaw provides free therapy and confidential mental health support to 12–25 year olds, and delivers education and resources to schools, communities and parents across the country.

Every euro you raise helps young people who are struggling with their mental health.

Fundraising & deposit details

To help us plan and to make sure our places go to committed runners:

  • Deposit: €300 (goes towards your fundraising)
  • Total target: €1,500 by race weekend

Don’t worry if that sounds daunting but once you start sharing your page, things will start to move more quickly than you might expect.

What you’ll receive as part of Team Jigsaw

We’re with you from sign-up to the finish line, including:

  • A personal fundraising page on iDonate
  • A Jigsaw running top for race weekend
  • Regular check-ins from the team
  • Encouragement every step of the way

 

Next step: Secure your place

If you would like to register to take part in this unforgettable event, click the link below.  We’d love to have you on the team. 💚

 

Help us improve the Jigsaw experience

Posted on by Ian Carey

Have you or your young person been to Jigsaw for free therapy in the last few months?

We’re working on MyJigsaw, a new online platform to make booking appointments and sharing information easier when people come to our services. We’d love to get feedback from young people, parents and carers who have recently engaged Jigsaw.

By taking part in focus groups and co-design workshops, you’ll get to help us design MyJigsaw and make sure that it meets your needs. This is a great opportunity to help Jigsaw to support other young people in the future.

If you’re interested in taking part, you can find more information and sign up here: jigsaw.ie/myjigsaw/

 

Jigsaw statement to the Oireachtas Committee on Health

Posted on by Ian Carey

Opening statement to the Joint Committee on Health on issues relating to Access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services from Jigsaw. 

 Dr Joseph Duffy CEO of Jigsaw – Wednesday 28 January, 2026 Committee Room 2, LH2000, Leinster House. 

Introduction:  

Jigsaw warmly welcomes this opportunity to contribute to the vital work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health relating to Access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. I am joined this morning by my colleagues Jigsaw’s Sarah Cullinan, Director of Services, and Jason Smith, Clinical Director. 

Established in 2006, Jigsaw has, with the invaluable support of the HSE, philanthropy and other donors, established a track record in achieving better mental health outcomes for young people by providing a range of community based and primary care mental health services and supports.  As an organisation at the forefront of understanding the mental health needs and experiences of young people, we believe we can add value to this discussion.  

As you know only too well, Ireland’s current youth mental health system is increasingly under pressure – over-stretched, under-resourced and under a constant strain of demand. Funding is too low. Integrated care remains largely an aspiration and often where you live dictates the care on offer.  

And yet, behind a discourse increasingly dominated by ‘demand’, ‘systems’ and ‘funding’, are young people struggling to cope and parents left to shoulder the pain.  

Demand for our Jigsaw services across the country is at an all-time high.  

In 2025, we had the highest ever number of referrals to our services around Ireland. Over 11,000 (11,064) young people were referred to us for support, an increase of 23% on the previous year (8,982). 

The solutions to addressing the crisis we are facing are complex, but there are positive signs.  

At Jigsaw, we are seeing significant progress regarding wait times. 2025 data shows the average time to get an appointment drop from 9 weeks to just 3. Through a large-scale change management process, we have introduced, and seen huge benefit from, a new Electronic Health Record, we have rolled our single session therapy model across the network and we have improved access into Jigsaw. The journey was not easy, but it has highlighted that change in how we deliver our services is possible. And it is needed, now more than ever. 

Alongside this, we warmly welcome the development and work of the Child and Youth Mental Health Office, established by the Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler in September 2023. The office’s recently published Child and Youth Mental Health Action Plan points to a number of encouraging commitments, including the development of a single point of access, the implementation of an electronic health record, improved integration and more. Alongside the Action Plan, the updated CAMHS Operational Guidelines, launched in December 2025, puts in place a clear commitment to improved consistency, enhanced referral processes and more. 

Yet, if we are to address the crisis facing our young people’s mental health, we need to look beyond CAMHS.  

Jigsaw strongly believes, as is outlined in our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, we need to augment resourcing for primary care mental health so that there is better access; better information on where to access supports and better integration of primary care with secondary/specialist care system.  

Core to the Jigsaw model are our early intervention primary care youth mental services; services that are designed to be safe and compassionate spaces in and of the community, that offer quality care to a young person when and where they need it most.  

We need mental health supports that are accessible, free, where they do not require a referral, and that people can move in and out of as they need, such as Jigsaw. If more primary care supports existed, such as full national coverage of Jigsaw, it would facilitate earlier identification of mental health difficulties and earlier intervention. 

The more advanced our primary care supports are, the less the likelihood of inappropriate referrals going to the secondary/specialist care system, causing increased delays and further ‘clogging up’ an already-stretched system.   

The central ingredient that would transform our youth mental health system is early intervention.  

If we can intervene as early as possible, we can help support young people and reducing severe distress and increased demand on acute services. Far more attention, at a policy and funding level, needs to be devoted to preventing mental ill-health, rather than intervening as it arises.  

As such, we must – at a minimum – increase mental health funding in line with the Sláintecare recommendation of 10% of the overall health budget – it is simply not good enough that just over 5% of our total health budget is ring-fenced for mental health in Ireland.   

Conclusion 

While much remains unpredictable, what is crystal clear to us here in Jigsaw is that increased investment, improved integration and a sharper focus on early intervention are now needed if we are to make a meaningful difference to the mental health and wellbeing of Ireland’s young people.   

At Jigsaw, we are fully aware that the factors behind our increasingly stretched youth mental health system are complex and multifactorial. However, we need to grasp the opportunities at hand in addressing the challenges before us.   

Lastly, if I could conclude with three key points: 

  1. Addressing the challenges within CAMHS alone will not address the youth mental health crisis we are in. 
  2. Any conversation aimed at addressing the mental health needs of our young people needs a wider lens, looking at the role of the community and voluntary sector, primary care, inter-agency integration, and increased funding. 
  3. And lastly, Jigsaw remains fully committed strengthening the youth mental health system in Ireland and in supporting the important work of this committee and of the challenges that face us all in this hugely important area.  

Thank you for your attention, we warmly welcome any questions you may have. 

Dr Joseph Duffy 

CEO Jigsaw 

Step into the New Year … in aid of Jigsaw

Posted on by Ian Carey

It’s that time of year – gyms are full, resolutions are at breaking point, and the post Christmas health kick is in full swing.

Well why not get out and get your steps in for a good cause.

Jigsaw are one of beneficiary charities for this year’s Forvis Mazars Steps Challenge.

Since Monday friends and colleagues around the country have been braving the winter chill to compete in the challenge which demands 10,000 steps per day … and more for those hoping to win bragging rights around the office.

 

Click here to find out more about the Steps Challenge

 

Click here to donate to Jigsaw as part of the challenge

 

Schools must be empowered as frontline of youth mental health crisis – Jigsaw

Posted on by Ian Carey

Jigsaw has called for continued action to embed greater mental health supports and training in schools, following today’s publication of the ESRI’s Supporting Student Wellbeing in School Contexts report.

Mike Mansfield, Director of Communications & Fundraising at Jigsaw, said: “We strongly welcome this report. It confirms what we see every day – schools are on the frontline of our youth mental health crisis, yet educators remain ill-equipped. With 75% of mental health difficulties that persist into adulthood starting before age 25, we cannot afford to wait. While we acknowledge the government’s recent significant investment in youth mental health and progress in educational policy, far more attention must be devoted to preventing mental ill-health in schools, rather than simply intervening as it arises.”

The ESRI findings echo Jigsaw’s experience working with more than 580 schools nationwide through our Neart programme, which supports schools to create a more positive mental health environment for students and staff. Research shows adolescents with better school connectedness have lower levels of self-harm, anxiety and depression – yet the top three stressors for young people all revolve around school: general issues, exams and homework, affecting Ireland’s 370,000 post-primary students.

“The solutions to the crisis in our youth mental health system lie as much outside the therapy room as in it,” Mansfield continued. “Kitchen tables, playing pitches and classrooms – these are the fertile grounds for improved mental health supports. The ESRI report rightly calls for embedding mental health supports in schools and strengthening teacher mental health literacy. Investment in keeping young people well, rather than waiting until they are very unwell, will save money – but more importantly, it has the potential to save young lives.”

Jigsaw stands ready to work with government, educators and communities to ensure every young person gets support when they need it most.

Neart is the national programme of wellbeing supports for post primary schools, and is a partnership between Jigsaw and NEPS (National Educational Psychological Services) / The Department of Education and Youth. Neart has a focus on strengthening the whole school environment and support systems around student, fostering school culture, relationships and belonging which support student wellbeing, which aligns well with the recommendations of the report. Neart also has an ongoing workstream on supporting the specific wellbeing needs of minoritised groups, holding EDI front and centre.

ENDS

Jigsaw research collaboration receives major state funding

Posted on by Ian Carey

A collaboration between Jigsaw and the UCD Youth Mental Health Lab has received major state research funding, the Minister for Mental Health announced this week.

The project, called ACCESS (Advancing Care through Singel-Session Therapy), is the first time that Jigsaw research has been awarded Health Reseach Broard funding.

Project ACCESS will:
• evaluate the introduction of Single Session Therapy (SST) within Jigsaw services;
• develop a programme theory to understand and explain how the model operates in practice;
• create a fidelity assessment tool to support consistent quality measurement and implementation across youth mental health settings.

A project group for the project includes (Principal Investigator) Dr Amanda Fitzgerald (UCD), Dr Sheena McHugh (UCC), and representation from Jigsaw – Dr Jeff Moore, Jason Smith, Dr Jim Lyng, and Conor Boksberger.

The project includes a wide range of international experts in a broader project advisory group – including leading single session therapy researcher Dr Jessica L Schleider

At various stages, there will be opportunities for Jigsaw clinicians and teams to volunteer time to inform and participate in the study.  The study will also include young people on the Project Steering Group and consult with young people about their experiences of single session therapy at point of access to Jigsaw.

This is a two year project & early-stage work will include recruitment of staff (based in UCD) and completion of a rapid review of the current literature on Single Session Therapy and youth mental health.

 

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