Jigsaw Galway celebrated its first anniversary this week with the launch of its new website.
Jigsaw Galway is part of a national programme which aims to provide more accessible and responsive services to young people aged 15-25 with emerging mental health difficulties.
Since its launch on December 1, 2008, Jigsaw has served more than 500 young people in its first year. Its Mary Street location serves as a drop-in and referral centre ensuring that when young people experiencing difficulties seek help, they obtain an immediate response from a professional who listens to them, determines what level of assistance they require, and helps to access the support they need.
The new website www.jigsaw.ie will allow young people to access the service from the comfort of their own home, school, or local café. The design and structure of the website was created in collaboration with the Jigsaw Youth Panel, thus ensuring the language and content is age appropriate and user friendly.
John Fitzmaurice, programme manager with Jigsaw Galway, says: “Jigsaw is an early and brief intervention service. The emphasis is on trying to support young people as early as possible, therefore trying to prevent problems from escalating.”
George Karr, a second year university student and member of the Youth Panel, says that the website “will make Jigsaw accessible to all young people living in Galway city and county. Everyone uses the internet and the website is designed to give you a clear picture of what Jigsaw is about, how you can access it, and lets you know what happens when you come in. We have built in a video piece so that people can see clearly what it is and more importantly what it's not.”
The website is proving to be an important access point for all the community, receiving an average of 754 visits a month (28 visits a day ) since it went live this autumn.
Jigsaw Galway is a partnership of Headstrong (The National Centre for Youth Mental Health ), the HSE (Galway PCCC ), and Mental Health Ireland. For more information contact Jigsaw Galway on 091 549252.
