In 2024, over 4 in 10 young people accessing Jigsaw’s services presented with high levels of mental health distress.
Category: News
Tipperary Jigsaw address the Elephant in the Room
The team in Jigsaw Tipperary welcomed Rocky the Elephant into their hub for a 2-month stay as part of the Elephant in the Room Movement.
Five-a-side fun for a good cause
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.
Kellie Harrington attends launch of The Grand Tour 2025
The Double Olympic Champion came to lend support to the 40 motorcycle riders travelling the country in aid of youth mental health.
Dublin to host IYAMH 2026
The International Association of Youth Mental Health Conference will take place at Dublin’s Convention Centre from November 25th to 27th, 2026.
M&S donate €150k to support youth mental health
Marks & Spencer Country Director Eddie Murphy has presented Jigsaw with a donation of €150,000 to help support the mental health of young people around Ireland.
This week marked one year since Jigsaw and M&S entered into our exciting partnership.
Under the banner, ‘Together we’ve got this’, the partnership aims to raise capacity, reach, and accessibility of the help available to young people across Ireland struggling with their mental health through a series of fundraising and awareness initiatives.
The last 12 months have seen a range of initiatives across areas such as in-store fundraising, staff training and public awareness campaigns. With over e150k raised to date, the partnership is due to go from strength to strength over the next 2 years.
How to manage exam stress
Exam stress impacts everyone. Learning how to manage it is essential to success and well-being at school.
As part of Jigsaw’s new schools programme Neart, the team has produced a podcast which provides tips and advice on how to understand and manage the stress of exams for students and parents.
Listen here
In this episode, the Neart schools team talks to Dr. Kim Lombard from Jigsaw, Catríona Rodgers and Eoin Houlihan from the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, Áine Lynch from the National Parents Council, Joe Leonard, principal of Cross and Passion College in Kildare, and Cian and Katie from the National Comhairle na nÓg.
We discuss the impact exam stress has on young people and families, how parents can recognise when a young person is experiencing a worrying level of stress, some practical ways parents can support young people, and possible avenues of further support for both young people and their parents.
The Neart Youth Mental Health Podcast is brought to you by Jigsaw, The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, and the Department of Education and the National Educational Psychological Service.
Information on the organisations and supports mentioned can be found here: Exam Stress Episode resource
A general list of supports for parents & guardians can be found here: Parent & Guardian Support List
To sign up for the Neart Parent newsletter and access further supports, register here: Neart Parent Registration
For more information on Neart visit www.jigsaw.ie/neart
Starbucks Easter donation drive
Starbucks are running an Easter Donation drive this weekend in aid of Jigsaw.
The coffee chain will be giving customers a chance to donate to Jigsaw and support free therapy for young people who need it.
Justin McDermott, Fundraising Manager at Jigsaw, explains:
“This Easter weekend our partners Starbucks Ireland are running a donation drive across all their outlets in Ireland to support our free therapy and support services for children and young people, aged 12-25. So we are asking you to do these three things to support.
- Connect with your friends
- Grab a coffee in your local Starbucks
- Donate to Jigsaw
“You can also donate online to support this drive, to do so visit www.jigsaw.ie/GiveAtEaster“.
VHI Women’s Mini Marathon SOLD OUT!
We’re excited to share that over 40 amazing supporters have already signed up to take part in this year’s VHI Women’s Mini Marathon on Sunday, 1st June 2025, as part of our Run for Jigsaw campaign!
Run for Jigsaw is our national fundraising series supporting youth mental health, proudly sponsored by Incredible Socks. Together, we’re stepping up for young people across Ireland—and the Women’s Mini Marathon is one of the biggest highlights of the year.
The event is now completely sold out, but don’t panic—we’re working on securing more tickets, so stay tuned. We’ll share updates as soon as we can.
If you are interested in taking part in this event and would like to be put on our waiting list for a ticket, please email Steven at steven.short@Jigsaw.ie
A huge thank you to everyone who’s already joined Team Jigsaw. Your support means the world, and we can’t wait to cheer you on in June!
Visit Incredible Socks here – https://incrediblesocks.ie/collections/women
New training to support LGBTQ+ youth mental health
PRESS RELEASE
Youth organisations Jigsaw and Belong To co-created course for people working or volunteering with young people
Today national youth organisations Jigsaw – The National Centre for Youth Mental Health and Belong To – LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland launched an updated training programme ‘Supporting the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People’.
The free online training has been created for adults who work or volunteer with young people in their communities to upskill in supporting LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health.
The two youth organisations originally came together in 2016 to develop a course for those who work or volunteer with young people. This is the second iteration of that course, updated to meet the current cultural environment and needs of LGBTQ+ youth.
The training takes approximately 1.5 hours to complete, and covers topics including:
- Using appropriate language and terminology when supporting LGBTQ+ young people;
- The current landscape of LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health;
- The impact of the social determinants of health on LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health;
- The impact of minority stress upon LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health; and
- Practical strategies to help build resilience among LGBTQ+ young people.
Growing Mental Health Challenges for LGBTQI+ Youth
Recent research from Trinity College Dublin, Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland, which was published in 2024, highlights the significant mental health challenges experienced by LGBTQ+ youth in Ireland today.
The report revealed that, compared to the general youth population, LGBTQI+ young people experience:
- Three times the level of severe and extremely severe symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression;
- Twice the level of suicide ideation; and
- Five times the level of suicide attempts.
Speaking about the course today, Dr Joseph Duffy (he/him), CEO at Jigsaw commented:
“People working and volunteering with youth have a huge opportunity to support them in a way that can really change lives. Being able to support young people through challenges being faced at a critical time in their development can have a huge and lasting impact. This training has been developed to provide anyone in this position with the knowledge and understanding to be able to support LGBTQ+ young people who we know need that support now.”
Also speaking was Moninne Griffith (she/her), CEO of Belong To who said:
“We’re very proud to be launching this updated training, and very conscious of the current environment in which we’re doing so with an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and a growing, coordinated attempt both internationally and here in Ireland to row back on LGBTQ+ rights. Young people see this and feel this. The findings of ‘Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland’ revealed last year are upsetting, but to those of us working to support LGBTQI+ people, unfortunately they are not surprising.
“This study demonstrates the harsh reality that depression, anxiety and stress have increased amongst LGBTQ+ youth since the first iteration of the same study in 2016. We hope that this study will be a resource for any person working or volunteering with young people to support them through challenges they are facing, at a time when they so clearly need that support.”