2011 Annual Report Mensana House 6 Adelaide Street Dun Laoghaire Co. Dublin Tel: 01 2841166 Fax: 01 2841736 Email: [email protected] Website: www.mentalhealthireland.ie Mental Health Ireland Annual Report 2011 Contents Board of Directors.......................................................................................................................................................................1 Chairman’s Address ...................................................................................................................................................................2 Funding and Fundraising ......................................................................................................................................................3 Work of Development Officers and Local Mental Health Associations 2011 .......................................4 Summary of Events in 2011 by Region .........................................................................................................................5 MHI Key Projects and Activities ......................................................................................................................................40 Young Mental Health Ireland Conference 2011 ...................................................................................................44 Mental Health Promotion in Schools and with Young People ....................................................................46 Human Resources ...................................................................................................................................................................48 Directors’ Report and Financial Statements ............................................................................................................49 Local Mental Health Associations .................................................................................................................................67 Mental Health Ireland Annual Report 2011 Board of Directors Chairman: Mr. Michael Hughes Honorary Secretary: Mr. Brian Glanville Honorary Treasurer: Mr. Brendan Madden Members Mr. Joe Casey Ms. Maria Molloy Mr. P.J. Murphy Mr. John McGetrick Mrs. Fidelma Ryan Registered Office Mensana House, 6, Adelaide Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Bankers Bank of Ireland, Smithfield, Dublin 7 Auditors JPA Brenson Lawlor, Argyle Square, Morehampton Road, Dublin 4. Date of Incorporation As a company limited by guarantee 22nd November, 1966. Place of Incorporation Dublin, Republic of Ireland 1 Mental Health Ireland Annual Report 2011 Chairman’s Address It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you the Mental and its local Associations is well founded as we continue Health Ireland Annual Report for the year 2011. The past to strive to make a real difference to the people and their twelve months has required new and fresh approaches in families we are privileged to serve. the way we conduct our core business in the promotion of mental health and providing support to service users The core activities of Mental Health Ireland – the promotion in need. Our 104 locally based Mental Health Associations of mental health in all age groups and the representation operating in, what for all of us, has become a very difficult of the interests of those who experience mental illness and and challenging milieu have strived to meet the needs of our mental ill health in our society continue to develop and changing circumstances and their achievements and success adapt under difficult circumstances. With greater economic are summarised elsewhere in this report. They are owed a challenges facing this country, paradoxically, the traditional deep debt of gratitude for all of their voluntary inputs into the challenges encountered in informing and educating people work of our Association. The macro-economic circumstances of the importance of maintaining good mental health have facing our country, both now and into the medium term, is resulted in a greater realisation that the maintenance of affecting in a negative way every household in the country good mental health is necessary for all of us to overcome with, regrettably, a potential for an increasingly damaging the pressures that severe economic circumstances present impact on the mental health and wellbeing of all age groups to all areas of our society. MHI continued to develop the in our society. MHI is responding to conventional ways to engage with these new demands and whilst we can and inform the general public of be proud of what we have achieved, we mental health considerations through recognise a lot more needs to be done. promotional material, seminars and a redeveloped and more accessible As one of the biggest areas of Public website. The adaptation and launch Services Expenditure, the health of an Australian model of promoting services has traditionally been targeted positive mental health by Mental Health to reduce expenditure in areas often Ireland titled ‘Building Resilience’ has referred to as non core elements of attracted great levels of interest from all our health services. Mental Health age groups during 2011 and this will be Services, the traditional Cinderella further developed in 2012. In this regard, of our core services have, over the Mental Health Ireland was particularly years, lost considerable ground in delighted that the ladies football and relation to its percentage share of camogie sections of the Gaelic Athletic overall Health Expenditure. It was, in Association approached Mental Health these circumstances, very pleasing to Mr. Michael Hughes, Chairman - MHI Ireland with regard to a joint rolling out hear the current Government keep of a programme of Building Resilience its promise to ring-fence a sum of with their members in 2011. This has €35,000,000 earmarked for development of Mental Health developed quite substantially since its launch in Croke Park Services in its 2012 budget announced in December 2011. during the year to the extent that Mental Health Ireland is now The €35,000,000 development sum, although welcome, planning to extend this model of mental health promotion had a greater psychological impact amongst volunteers to all areas of the Gaelic Athletic Association and indeed to and service users in the voluntary sector in that it reflected other community and sporting groups throughout Ireland. a reality understood by Government that Mental Health Services were, at last, regarded as a key core service area During 2011 the Minister for Health announced his intention requiring supplementary investment to assist bridging the to review the operation and the content of the Mental historical imbalance between investment in Mental Health Health Act, 2001. Mental Health Ireland has engaged with Services and investment in other areas of our General Health this review process through the submission of its views on Services. This is an important development particularly at areas where it feels improvements could be made and we a time of increased financial pressures on our Government will continue to take an active part in this process of review. where cutbacks and savings are headline phrases used in all Looking forward to 2012 and beyond, the development of discussions surrounding budgetary preparations. mental health services as outlined in “A Vision for Change” In these economic circumstances, Mental Health Ireland by the statutory services present very difficult challenges wishes to acknowledge the continued financial support and obstacles to overcome, for example, the continued provided by the Health Service Executive, at a time when moratorium of the filling of vacancies in the Public Service the HSE is required to scrutinise all areas of service delivery and the effects of the sudden ending of the employment in order to effect savings in overall Health expenditure. Like of a sizeable number of health professionals through the most organisations in the voluntary sector, Mental Health implementation of an early retirement scheme throughout Ireland has had to endure a further decrease in its core the Public Service. This has had a marked effect on staffing funding allocation for 2011. The continued investment in the levels, in particular, of psychiatric nursing staff which has left activities of Mental Health Ireland through a Service Level significant gaps in service provision which will need to be Agreement with the HSE in difficult financial circumstances is kept under review. Mental Health Ireland and its affiliated welcomed. Mental Health Ireland will continue to ensure that local Associations, volunteers and staff will try to meet the confidence of all of our funders in Mental Health Ireland this challenge by providing appropriate care alternatives where necessary and will assist in any way it can to adapt 2 Mental Health Ireland Annual Report 2011 Chairman’s Address its activities and work, to fill gaps where necessary. This is a In this regard, I also wish to pay particular and special praise work in progress and this work will continue in consultation and gratitude to all of our volunteers attached to local Mental with the Health Service Executive and local service providers. Health Associations who continue to shoulder the burden of work at local level throughout each county and region and As mentioned in our Report of 2010, MHI will continue to continue to provide great assistance to and complement the press for the creation and development of coherent networks work of statutory and other voluntary