RAISING AWARENESS FOR PIETA HOUSE WEXFORD
Pieta House Wexford Centre opened its doors over two years ago, situated on 14 Francis Street, Wexford. A central location to meet the needs of Wexford’s growing communities and to broaden the availability of its services.
Pieta House Wexford began operating in May 2017, and grew from just two therapists to seven therapists and has four individual therapy rooms. The location is a short 4-5-minute walk from the town centre and is well serviced by bus and train.
Pauline Lawlor Centre Manager, Pieta House Wexford said “It is important that our services are readily accessible, our central location ensures that we can offer support to all those seeking help in Wexford town and county. To date, 486 people have passed through our Wexford services, receiving crisis intervention and bereavement services from our professionally qualified and accredited therapists. At its heart Pieta is about working with people to lift levels of suicidal ideation, to help them bring hope back into their lives and to improve their levels of self-care, and to support people and families that have been impacted by the loss of a loved one by suicide.
She added “It is so important that our services are offered free of charge and no referral from a GP is required. It is vital, services such as ours exist within our communities, that we make it easy for people to ask for and to get help they need, to make the difference in their lives, to feel better.”
As over 85% of its income comes from fundraising events and donations, Pieta House’s 15 Centres nationwide and three Outreach services which all rely heavily on fundraising and support. Darkness into Light, Pieta House flagship fundraising event of the year, was highly significant for the Wexford region this year with over 3,489 people taking part in the global fight against suicide held on May 11th out of a total 200,000 people globally.
The services Pieta House provide are crucial in today’s society and it is of the utmost importance that Pieta House have the staff and facilities in Wexford. Pieta House offers these services free of charge to all those seeking help. 1 in 7 adults have experienced mental health issues in the last 12 months and it costs approximately €1,000 to bring one person through the therapy service each year. Pieta House rely significantly on community fundraising to sustain the level of care needed.
Pieta House was established in 2006 to provide free and accessible professional services to people who are in suicidal crisis or who are self-harming. Pieta House also provides a free phone 24/7 Helpline which is 1800 247 247 and operates a Suicide Bereavement Counselling Service providing free counselling, therapy and support to individuals, couples, families and children who have been bereaved by suicide.
The prevention service is a key pillar in the work of Pieta House, Pieta Resilience Academy is an initiative to teach school going children positive mental health techniques and strategies. The Resilience Academy is a six-week, evidence-based programme that was designed ‘with schools, for schools. The programme aims to provide students with skills and coping mechanisms that are needed to succeed in school, and throughout their adult lives.
Pieta House has supported over 40,000 people to date, and has become one of Ireland’s leading charitable organisations.
Pieta House, which started as a small, Dublin-based charity in 2006 with just one centre with four staff, has now expanded to 15 centres along with three Outreach Services (Ballina, Sligo and Ennis) and one In Reach Service with Belong To. Employing over 270 therapists and administrative staff nationwide. From day one, all of the services it provides have been offered completely free of charge.
For further information on Pieta House and its services, visit www.pieta.ie. –
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How to contact Pieta House:
To avail of Pieta House services, which are free of charge, please visit www.pieta.ie for all centre contact details. Pieta House provides 24/7 support – if you are suicidal, self-harming or bereaved you can contact Pieta House 24/7 via the Freephone helpline on 1800 247 247, you can also text HELP to 51444 (standard message rates apply)